Object: Pendant in the form of a dragon S2012.9.1044

Classification: Jewelry and Ornament

Historical period(s): Western Zhou dynasty, ca. 1050-950 BCE

Object Date: ca. 1050-950 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D (overall): 7.7 × 7.7 × 0.3 cm (3 1/16 × 3 1/16 × 1/8 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: S2012.9.1044

: 龍形飾
西周（公元前1050-950年）
中國
軟玉
高9.9、寬8.5、厚0.5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：RLS1997.48.3599

Provenance: 1946 to 1948
C. T Loo & Company, New York, NY acquired in November 1946 from an unknown source [1]

1948 to 1953
C. T. Loo, INC., New York by transfer from C. T. Loo & Company, New York [2]

1953 to 1959
C. T. Loo Chinese Art, New York by transfer from C. T. Loo, INC., New York [3]

1959 to 1997
Dr. Paul Singer, Summit, NJ purchased from C. T. Loo Chinese Art on January 2, 1959 in New York, NY [4]

1997 to 1999
In the custody of Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, upon Paul Singer’s death in January 1997 and loan agreement between the Executors of the Singer Estate and the Gallery in February 1997 [5]

From 1999
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 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 [6]

Notes:

[1] See C. T. Loo & Company stock card 30427: “Small jade dragon CHOW, small jade pendant dragon from Middle CHOW,” copy in accession file. “Nov. 1946” listed at top right of stock card. The stock number 30427 has been scratched out and replaced with E 5809. This inventory number was likely assigned by Frank Caro, Loo’s associate, when he assumed leadership of the company (see note 2).

[2] C. T. Loo (1880-1957) formed C. T. Loo, INC. in 1948, when his company, C. T. Loo & Company lost access to suppliers in China. The company closed by the summer of 1953, after Loo appointed his associate, Frank Caro as the manager and leader of the New York branch of C. T. Loo & Company. Caro assumed leadership in 1952 and in 1953 began operating as C. T. Loo Chinese Art, New York and dissolved C. T. Loo, INC.

[3] See notes 1 and 2.

[4] The sale to Dr. Singer is documented on stock card referenced in note 1. The card reports: “1959 Jan. 2 to Dr. Singer.” The collection of Chinese art and antiquities assembled by Paul Singer 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.

[5] 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 and a loan agreement between the Executors of the Singer Estate and the Gallery in February 1997.

[6] See “The Dr. Paul Singer Collection of Chinese Art Gift Agreement,” March 1999, Freer and Sackler Collections Management Office. This object was formally accessioned into the museum collection in 2012.

Previous owner(s): C.T. Loo & Company (1914-1948)
C.T. Loo, INC. (ca. 1948-no later than July 1953)
C.T. Loo Chinese Art (1953-1961)
Dr. Paul Singer (1904-1997)

Curatorial Remarks

1. (Keith Wilson, July 3, 2019) Title changed from ring to pendant; Date changed from 10th-9th century BCE to ca. 1050-950 BCE; Object name changed from carving to pendant.
2. (Najiba Choudhury, February 5, 2020) Object name changed from "Pendant" to "Jewelry".

Unpublished Research: Draft catalogue entry (no. 315) for RLS1997.48.3599 for the catalogue of the Singer collection (1970--90); by Louisa Fitzgerald Huber
Ring Shaped as a Coiled Dragon
Western Zhou 周 dynasty, late 10th--early 9th century BCE
Jade
Diameter 7.7 cm (3 1/16 in)

The thin, flat ring of translucent, olive brown jade with cream colored specks is designed as a dragon silhouette.
A section of the ring has been removed, leaving an opening between the dragon's head and its pointed tail. The tail itself tapers in width, distorting the original contour of the ring's inner perimeter. The dragon's face is shown with a peaked forehead and a curving, beveled eye with a circular pupil. Apart from a claw like member visible behind the head along the inner perimeter, the remainder of the dragon is described by a pair of long, concentric lines with parallel hooks and scrolls, and by two larger volutes near the end. The mouth is perforated.

A similar dragon shaped ring was excavated in 1954 from a tomb at Pudu cun 普渡村, near Xi'an 西安, Shaanxi 陝西 province, datable to the reign of Mu Wang. [1]

Published: An Exhibition of Chinese Archaic Jades: Arranged for the Norton Gallery of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida (New York: C. T. Loo & Co., 1950), pl. 32: 2; Max Loehr, Relics of Ancient China, from the Collection of Dr. Paul Singer (New York: Asia Society, 1965), no. 49; Sandra Carr Grant and Catherine Coleman Brawer, The Auspicious Dragon in Chinese Decorative Art (Katonah, NY: The Katonah Gallery, 1978), no. 4.

[1] Shaanxi sheng wenwu guanli weiyuan hui 陝西省文物管理委員會, "Chang'an Pudu cun Xizhou mu de fajue 長安普渡村西周墓的發掘," Kaogu xuebao 考古學報 1957.15, pl. 6: 1.

Published References

C.T. Loo & Company, (Introduction) Lindsay Hughes Cooper. An Exhibition of Archaic Chinese Jades. Exh. cat. New York. Plate XXXII, no. 2.
J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .

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