Jades for Life and Death

Classification: Sculpture

Historical period(s): Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty, ca. 1250-ca. 1050 BCE

Object Date: ca. 1250-ca. 1050 BCE

Medium: Turquoise

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 6.3 × 3.4 × 1.9 cm (2 1/2 × 1 5/16 × 3/4 in)

Origin: China, probably Henan province, Anyang

Credit Line: Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

Collection: Arthur M. Sackler Collection

Accession Number: S1987.864

: 貓頭鷹
晚商安陽時期（公元前1250-1050年）
中國，疑似河南安陽市
綠松石
高6.3、寬3.4、厚1.9釐米
亞瑟·M·賽克勒贈送
器物編號：S1987.864

Provenance: To 1959
Abel William Bahr (1877-1959), Shanghai, China, London, England, Montreal, Canada, New York, NY, and Ridgefield, Connecticut [1]

From 1963 to 1987
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, New York, purchased from the Bahr Collection in 1963 [2]

From 1987
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler on September 11, 1987 [3]

Notes:

[1] According to information provided by the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, October 9, 2009.

[2] See #344: "Turquoise standing owl," on list provided by the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, October 9, 2009, copy in object file.

[3] Pursuant to the agreement between Dr. Arthur M. Sackler and the Smithsonian Institution, dated July 28, 1982, legal title of the donated objects was transferred to the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery on September 11, 1987.

Previous owner(s): Abel William Bahr (1877-1959)
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

Description: A horned owl is depicted quite realistically except for the volute and triangle design decor on the wings. (Many chips/discrepancies in uniformity [ancient?]; deteriorated veins filled with soil and spots of cinnabar.)

(Jenny F. So, October 18, 1996) A standing horned owl is carved and decorated on both sides. Its wings hug the body tightly to form a taut columnar shape. Claws are seen in the front, and the back is decorated to show wings and tail. Double incised volutes and curls follow the bird's wings and body descriptively. Turquoise, surface deteriorated and filled with earthy remains; carved.

Past label text: 1. In Praise of Ancestors, September 28, 1987–January 5, 1989; by Thomas Lawton (shown with S1987.844, S1987.839, S1987.876, S1987.579, S1987.705, S1987.732, S1987.719, S1987.637, S1987.877, S1987.696, S1987.694, S1987.861, S1987.517, S1987.879, S1987.689, S1987.567, S1987.575, S1987.540, and S1987.542)

Pendant (Pei 珮)
13th–11th centuries BCE
Shang 商 dynasty
China
Turquoise

2. Ancient Chinese Jades and Bronzes, October 1, 1989–September 10, 1990; by Thomas Lawton

Owl Pendant (Xiao Pei 鴞珮)
Shang 商 dynasty, ca. 1200 BCE
China
Turquoise

2. (Keith Wilson, Anyang: China's Ancient City of Kings, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, February 25, 2023 to April 28, 2024)

Fitting in the form
of an owl
Anyang period,
ca. 1250–1050 BCE

Turquoise
Gift of Arthur M. Sackler S1987.637 and S1987.864

Treasured Possessions
Richly furnished Anyang tombs contained an array of luxuries, including jewelry and small personal objects—their number and type helping to indicate the status and interests of the deceased. Crafted from a variety of valued materials, these precious ornaments for the afterlife also offer insights into the fashion of the living. Carved bone hairpins and jade (nephrite) pendants and fittings were often inspired by the natural world; the depictions on their surfaces range from lifelike to abstract. Most remarkable are designs inspired by the supernatural (including combat between a dragon and bird) and ancient objects. The circular dragon pendant is based on a Neolithic prototype predating Anyang by two thousand years.

Curatorial Remarks

1. (Jenny F. So, October 18, 1996) Changed media from "Turquoise" to "Turquoise, surface deteriorated and filled with earthy remains," changed subject from "Pendant (pei 佩)" to "Owl."

2. (Jenny F. So, October 18, 1996) Throughout the Shang 商 period, turquoise in small, thin chips commonly served as inlay on bronze and bone ritual objects; it was rarely used for three dimensional carvings. Among the over 700 jade and stone carvings from Tomb 5 at Anyang 安陽, only two are turquoise. Of Shang 商 sculptures in turquoise, this owl is unusually large and elaborately decorated.

3. (Jeffrey Smith, September 2009). Medium changed back to "Turquoise." Previous medium text placed in Description.

4. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 22, 2017) Title changed from "Figure in the form of an owl" to "Owl"; period one changed from "Shang dynasty" to "Late Shang dynasty"; period two added "Anyang period"; date changed from "ca. 13th-11th century BCE" to "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE".

5. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, December 12, 2018) Removed the following from the description field, "1. (Jenny So, 18 October 1996) A standing horned owl is carved and decorated on both sides. Its wings hug the body tightly to form a taut columnar shape. Claws are seen in the front, and the back is decorated to show wings and tail. Double incised volutes and curls follow the bird's wings and body descriptively. Turquoise, surface deteriorated and filled with earthy remains; carved."

Added the following to the description field, "A horned owl is depicted quite realistically except for the volute and triangle design decor on the wings. (Many chips/discrepancies in uniformity [ancient?]; deteriorated veins filled with soil and spots of cinnabar.) (Jenny F. So, October 18, 1996) A standing horned owl is carved and decorated on both sides. Its wings hug the body tightly to form a taut columnar shape. Claws are seen in the front, and the back is decorated to show wings and tail. Double incised volutes and curls follow the bird's wings and body descriptively. Turquoise, surface deteriorated and filled with earthy remains; carved." Added past label texts by Thomas Lawton.

6. (YinYing Chen per Keith Wilson, February 15, 2023)
Change date from "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE" to "ca. 1250-1050 BCE."
Change date from "公元前1300-1050年" to "公元前1250-1050年" in the translation field.

Published References

Chinese Jade Animals. Exh. cat. Hong Kong. cat. 18.
J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .

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Owl

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