Decorative fitting for an ornamental comb

• 1. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, March 3, 2008) On this date entered: Period One (Late Neolithic period), Date (3300--2250 BCE), Artist (Liangzhu 良渚 culture), Title, Object name, Geographical region (Lake Tai 太湖 region).

  2. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 29, 2008) Jewelry and Ornament added as secondary classification.

  3. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, June 23, 2010) Object name changed from "Pendant" to "Jewelry."

  4. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 19, 2016) Title changed from "Head ornament" to "Decorative fitting for an ornamental comb"; added translation and unpublished research by Paul Singer.

   

Draft catalogue entry (no. 10) for S2012.9.119 for the catalogue of the Singer collection (1970--1990); by Paul Singer

Trapezoidal plaque
Neolithic period, 3rd millennium BCE
Jade
Width 7 cm (2 3/4 in)

The trapezoidal plaque has slanting sides accented by cusped indentations. Two horizontal notches interrupt the upper edge of the plaque. A biconical perforation appears in the middle of the upper edge; two other biconical perforations pierce the irregularly shaped projection at the bottom of the jade. Similar trapezoidal jade plaques have been recovered from Liangzhu 良渚 sites in Jiangsu 江蘇 and Zhejiang 浙江 provinces.

The distinctive color of this plaque can be explained by the fact that during Liangzhu 良渚 culture burial ceremonies jades sometimes were exposed to intense heat when they were interred with the corpse. Traditions persist in China: today paper money is burned at funerals.

Published: Elizabeth Childs-Johnson, Ritual and Power: Jades of Ancient China (New York: China House Gallery, China Institute in America, 1988), no. 70.

• J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .