Object: Pendant in the form of a disk with bird S2012.9.853

Classification: Jewelry and Ornament

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

Object Date: ca. 1050-ca. 950 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x Diam (overall): 0.9 x 4.1 cm (3/8 x 1 5/8 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: S2012.9.853

: 鳥紋璧形飾
西周（公元前1050-950年）
中國
軟玉
直徑4.1、厚0.9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：RLS1997.48.3677

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 Keith Wilson, November 19, 2019) Title changed from "Disk" to "Pendant in the form of a disk with bird"; Date changed from "10th century BCE" to "ca. 1050-950 BCE"; Medium changed from "Jade (nephrite)" to "Jade"; added Chinese Caption by Jingmin Zhang; Object name changed from "Pendant" to "Jewelry"; and added Unpublished Research by Louisa Fitzgerald Huber.

Unpublished Research: Draft catalogue entry (no. 313) for RLS1997.48.3677 for the catalogue of the Singer collection (1970--1990); by Louisa Fitzgerald Huber
Disk
Western Zhou 周 dynasty, 10th century BCE
Jade
Diameter 3.9 cm (1 1/2 in)

The disk is decorated identically on each side by the figure of a crested bird whose head and neck encircle the small perforation at the center, while the wing and body, rendered in a more abstract design, unfold as a clockwise spiral. The decoration is composed of sweeping, parallel curves, executed by double recessed lines bordered outermost by beveling. The originally gray green stone has become almost entirely milky white.

Two disks similarly ornamented with bird figures have been excavated from the early tenth century burials at Rujiazhuang 茹家莊 in Baoji 寶鷄, Shaanxi 陝西 province. [1]

[1] Lu Liancheng 盧連成 and Hu Zhisheng 胡智生, Baoji Yuguo mudi 寶鷄 (⼸+⿂)囯墓地 (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1988), vol. 2, pl. 179: 2, pl. 207: 1.

Published References

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

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