Jades for Life and Death

Classification: Jewelry and Ornament

Historical period(s): Han dynasty, 475-221 BCE

Object Date: 475-221 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D (overall): 4.5 x 2.9 x 0.6 cm (1 3/4 x 1 1/8 x 1/4 in)

Origin: China

Credit Line: The Dr. Paul Singer Collection of Chinese Art of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; a joint gift of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, Paul Singer, the AMS Foundation for the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities, and the Children of Arthur M. Sackler

Collection: Arthur M. Sackler Collection

Accession Number: S2012.9.1309

: 凹面連體谷紋扳指形佩
東周戰國時期（公元前475-221年）
中國
軟玉
高4.5、寬2.9、厚0.6釐米
史密森博物學院亞瑟·M·賽克勒美術館保羅·辛格中國藝術收藏品；亞瑟·M·賽克勒基金會，保羅·辛格，AMS基金會，及亞瑟·M·賽克勒子女聯合贈送
器物編號： S2012.9.1309

Provenance: ?-1997
Dr. Paul Singer (1904-1997), method of acquisition unknown [1]

1997-1999
In the custody of Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, upon death of Paul Singer and establishment of a loan agreement [2]

From 1999
The National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, by gift of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, Paul Singer, the AMS Foundation for the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities, and the Children of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler [3]

Notes:

[1] The collection of Chinese art and antiquities assembled by Dr. Paul Singer over time was purchased by him on behalf of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, Jillian Sackler, The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, the AMS Foundation for the Arts, Sciences and Humanities and later was transferred to the children of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler.

[2] The Dr. Paul Singer Collection of Chinese Art came into the custody of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, upon Paul Singer’s death in January 1997. See loan agreement between the Executors of the Singer Estate and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, February 1997, copy in collection accession files. In March 2023, the museum's legal name changed to National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution.

[3] The entirety of the Dr. Paul Singer Collection of Chinese Art formally accessioned in 2012. See the Dr. Paul Singer Collection of Chinese Art gift agreement, March 1999, copy in collection accession files. The work is part of the Museum’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection.

Research updated on June 12, 2024.

Previous owner(s): Dr. Paul Singer (1904-1997)

Curatorial Remarks

1. (Najiba Choudhury per Matthew Clarke, December 14, 2021) Medium changed from "Jade" to "Jade (nephrite)".
2. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 23, 2023) Title changed from "Archer's ring" to "Pendant in the form of an archer’s thumbring with incised linked curls"; Object Name changed from "Archer's thumbring" to "Pendant"; Classification changed from "Tools and Equipment" to "Jewelry and Ornament"; Period One changed from "Han dynasty" to "Eastern Zhou dynasty"; Period Two added as "Warring States period"; Date changed from "late 3rd centuryy BCE-early 3rd century CE" to "475-221 BCE"; and added Unpublished Research by Max Loehr.

Unpublished Research: Draft catalogue entry (no. 775) for S2012.9.1309 for the catalogue of the Singer collection (1970--1990); by Max Loehr
Ornamented Archer's Ring
Han 漢 dynasty (206 BCE--220 CE)
Jade
Length 4.8 cm (1 7/8 in)
Although in its convex concave shape and general outline it is related to the Eastern Zhou archer's thumb ring, the ring has a thumb hole that is disproportionately small. The two faces are decorated with differently engraved linear patterns. The bone colored jade has a glossy surface. [1]
[1] For comparable objects, see Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo 中國社會科學院考古研究所 and Hebei sheng wenwu guanlichu 河北省文物管理處, Mancheng Han mu fajue baogao 滿城漢墓發掘報告 (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1980), Vol. 2, pls. 103:2, 212:1.

Published References: Published References are currently unavailable.

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Archer's ring

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