1. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, June 23, 2008) Per Jenny F. So, Jade Project Database, added Period One: Eastern Zhou 周 dynasty; added Date "475--221 BCE." Changed Object Name from "Necklace" to "Jewelry." Added "Gold, turquoise, amber, and jade (nephrite)" to Medium as per article by Janet Douglas and W. Thomas Chase (2001). Added Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database.
2. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 22, 2008) "Jewelry" added as secondary classification.
3. (Daisy Yiyou Wang, January 12, 2012) According to Janet G. Douglas and W. Thomas Chase, "Examination of two Eastern Zhou 周 jade and gold assemblages from Jincun 金村, near Luoyang 洛陽, Henan 河南 province, China, and implications for the original configuration of the Freer Pectoral," Studies in Conservation 46:1 (2001): 35--48, the Singer chain and beads assemblage is an entity separate from the Freer assemblage (F1930.27a k). The Singer chain is a three way double loop in loop chain in construction with no obvious modern repairs or replacements. At the lowest point of the chain, it is crimped, which may be evidence to support the idea that a pendant may have been hung from this area.
Douglas and Chase proposed that both the Freer and Singer chains may have come from a similar origin based on the similarities in construction and style. They do not appear to have originated from a Western culture, but probably came from China or the Western Steppes region in antiquity. Hellenistic and Roman examples of gold chains are similarly constructed; they tend to be much finer, however, which results in smaller links. The Singer chain's clasp mechanism is a type never seen in the West.
From the article, it is however not clear whether an XRF examination was carried out to determine the composition of the Singer gold chain. A comparison of the Singer and Freer chains in composition would be useful to further support the idea that they may come from a similar origin and date to a similar period.
4. (Daisy Yiyou Wang, January 28, 2012) Title changed from "Necklace" to "Chain with beads and clasp"; Date changed from "early 5th--late 3rd century BCE" to "475--221 BCE"; Place of origin changed from "China, probably Jincun 金村, Henan 河南 province" to "Jincun 金村, Luoyang 洛陽, Henan 河南 province, China"; Medium changed from "Gold, turquoise, amber, and jade" to "Gold, jade (nephrite), amber, and turquoise."
5. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, June 28, 2022) Title changed from "Chain with beads and clasp" to "Beads and gold chain"; changed Description from "Gold, jade (nephrite), amber, and turquoise" to "Jade (nephrite), amber, turquoise, and gold"; added Past Label Text; and added Unpublished Research;
Draft catalogue entry (no. 355) for S2012.9.4934 for the catalogue of the Singer Collection (1970--90); by Louisa Fitzgerald Huber
Necklace
Eastern Zhou 周 dynasty, 5th--3rd century BCE
Gold, jade, amber
Length, chain 69.5 cm (27 5/16 in), jade beads (a) 4.2 cm (1 5/8 in) (b) 4.3 cm (1 11/16 in)
Diameter, amber beads (a) 2 cm (3/4 in) (b) 2.5 cm (1 in)
The gold chain is strung with a pair of matching conical jade beads and two round beads of amber. The two jade beads are a translucent, gray green with dark brown markings. A pattern of raised curls decorates their highly polished surfaces. The unusually large size of their perforations, which are drilled from the wider ends of the cones, indicates that the beads were designed to be threaded on a metal chain rather than on a silk cord. The two amber beads are far less well preserved than the jades.
The chain has been examined by W. Thomas Chase, head conservator of the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, who provides the following information:
The links are individual pieces of wire with apparently soldered ends which are interlinked and flattened. Each link interlocks with two others . . . The individual links are of a rather even diameter and might be extruded wire, but we have no certain proof of this. [1]
The way in which the chain was fastened at the back of the neck is also quite ingenious. One end of the chain is fashioned as a loop that may be secured over a hollow, cylindrical gold clasp to which the opposite end of the chain is affixed within the clasp's spade shaped, open end. The other end of the clasp is sealed by a round cabochon of greenish turquoise. When the necklace was worn and the chain drawn taught, the clasp covered the end of the loop so that the method of closure was hidden. Conversely, when the loop was released from the clasp and compressed, all the beads could be removed by slipping them off the chain.
Necklaces have been a form of personal adornment since the earliest times in China. One of the oldest completely preserved examples, unearthed at the Liangzhu 良渚 site of Fuquanshan 福泉山, Shanghai 上海, is dated around 2000 BCE. [2] Among the numerous Chinese necklaces of the Bronze Age are several particularly notable ones from the Shang 商 and Spring and Autumn periods. [3] Yet apart from the Singer necklace, the only other instance of a gold chain necklace from China of an early date is the famous piece in the Freer Gallery, also of the Warring States period, which is hung with spectacular jade dancing figures and dragon pendants. [4] The Freer chain, however, is four links in thickness, while the Singer chain is composed of eight links and exceeds the Freer chain in length by almost thirty centimeters (11 3/4 in). Both chains are believed to have been found at Jincun 金村, near Luoyang 洛陽, Henan 河南 province. [5] The scarcity of gold chains in China at this period, along with the discovery of a very similar chain of the same period from a Xiongnu 匈奴 find at Aluchaideng 阿鲁柴登, Inner Mongolia, suggests that the Singer and Freer chains may both have been imported items, acquired through trade or as tribute. [6]
Published: Catalogue of the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, 1935--1936 (London: Royal Academy of Arts, 1935), cat. no. 349; An Exhibition of Chinese Archaic Jades: Arranged for the Norton Gallery of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida (New York: C. T. Loo and Co., 1950), pl. 47:2; Max Loehr, Relics of Ancient China, from the Collection of Dr. Paul Singer (New York: Asia Society, 1965), cat. no. 74.
Notes
[1] Correspondence with Dr. Paul Singer, August 10, 1970.
[2] Shanghai shi wenwu baoguan weiyuanhui 上海市文物保管委員會, "Shanghai Qingpu Fuquanshan Liangzhu wenhua mudi 上海青浦福泉山良渚文化墓地," Wenwu 文物 1986.10, 5, fig. 8.
[3] Zhongguo kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo] 中國科學院考古研究所, ed., Shangcunling Guo guo mudi 上村嶺虢囯墓地 (Beijing: Kexue chubanshe, 1959), color pls. 1--3, pls. 24--27 and pl. 28:1--3, respectively; Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo 中國社會科學院考古研究所, Yinxu Fu Hao mu 殷墟婦好墓 (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1980), color pl. 36:1--2.
[4] Thomas Lawton, Chinese Art of the Warring States Period: Change and Continuity, 480--222 BC (Washington, DC: Freer Gallery of Art, 1982), cat. no. 77.
[5] William Charles White, Tombs of Old Lo Yang: A Record of the Construction and Contents of a group of Royal Tombs at Chin ts'un, probably dating to 550 B.C. (Shanghai: Kelly and Walsh Limited, 1934), pp. 131--32, no. 310; Max Loehr, Relics of Ancient China, from the Collection of Dr. Paul Singer (New York: Asia Society, 1965), cat. no. 74.
[6] Tian Guangjin 田廣金 and Guo Suxin 郭素新, "Neimenggu Aluchaideng faxian de Xiongnu yiwu 內蒙古阿魯柴登發現的匈奴遺物," Kaogu 考古 1980.4, p. 336, pl. 12:6.
Usage conditions apply
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections..