Object: Disk (bi) with raised uniform curls arranged in a grid and inscription S2012.9.1199

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Historical period(s): Warring States period, Eastern Zhou dynasty, 475-221 BCE

Object Date: 475-221 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): Diam x D: 7.7 × 0.4 cm (3 1/16 × 3/16 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: S2012.9.1199

: 凸面規則網格谷紋帶銘文璧
東周戰國時期（公元前475--221年）
中國
軟玉
直徑2.5、厚0.5釐米；孔徑
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：S2012.9.1199

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. (Jeffrey Smith per Matthew Clarke, August 2, 2022) Medium changed from Jade to Jade (nephrite).
2. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, June 6, 2023) Title changed from "Disk with raised curls" to "Disk (bi) with raised uniform curls arranged in a grid and inscription"; Date changed from "4th century BCE" to "475-221 BCE"; and added Chinese Translation by Jingmin Zhang.

Unpublished Research: Draft catalogue entry (no. 351) for S2012.9.1199 for the catalogue of the Singer Collection (1970--1990); by Louisa Fitzgerald Huber
Disk with Raised Curls
Eastern Zhou 周 dynasty, Warring States period, 4th century BCE
Jade
Diameter 7.5 cm (2 15/16 in)
In contrast to the preceding, slightly earlier late-Eastern Zhou disk (S2012.9.899), this example has a smaller central perforation and more widely spaced raised curls. On the outer rim is an incised inscription of three characters: Ji 己, bai sishi 百四十, which reads "ji 己 [a cyclical character designating the sixth of the ten celestial stems] one hundred and forty." Inscriptions of this type, not uncommon on Eastern Zhou jades, presumably indicate a particular sequence of production. The jade is a dark russet color, with a triangular area of translucent, yellowish green near the center.

Published References: Published References are currently unavailable.

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Disk (bi) with raised uniform curls arranged in a grid and inscription

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