Jades for Life and Death

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Historical period(s): Probably Shang dynasty, ca. 1600-1050 BCE

Object Date: ca. 1600-1050 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): Diam x D: 7.9 x 0.8 cm (3 1/8 x 5/16 in) Diam (hole): 2.3 cm (7/8 in)

Origin: China

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1912.44

: 璧
似為商代，公元前1600-1050年
中國
軟玉
直徑7.9、厚0.8釐米；孔徑2.3釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾贈送
器物編號: F1912.44

Provenance: To 1912
Abel William Bahr (1877-1959), London, to 1912 [1]

From 1912 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Abel William Bahr, London, in 1912 [2]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 362, pg. 106, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Abel William Bahr (1877-1959) was a collector and dealer born in Shanghai, China. After he left Shanghai in 1910, he lived, at various points in time, in London, Montreal, and Ridgefield, Connecticut. He established a gallery in New York City in 1920.

[2] See note 1.

[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Previous owner(s): Abel William Bahr (C.L. Freer source) (1877-1959)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

Description: Small perforated disk of the type pi [bi] 璧; semitranslucent, mottled greenish and brownish yellow; a beveled area on rim, one long crack.

(Jenny F. So, Jade Project Database) Evenly round and quite evenly thick. Mottled greenish brownish material; see F1917.81. Conical hole (?), drilled off center, now polished smooth and straight.

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought from Abel William Bahr, London. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 106. $360.10 for 65 pieces of jade.

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Han 漢. See further, S.I. 362, Appendix IV.

3. (Isabel Ingram Mayer, 1945) Ch'ing [Qing] 清 dynasty reproduction of Han 漢 type.

4. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 2.974. Nephrite.

5. (H. Elise Buckman, 1964) The Envelope File contained no further information and has now been destroyed.

6. (Thomas Lawton, 1978) Attribution changed from Ch'ing [Qing] 清 to Shang 商.

7. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 8, 2008) Ceremonial object added as secondary classification.

8. (Stephen Allee, November 17, 2008) As per Jenny F. So, Jade Project Database, changed Period One from "Shang 商 dynasty" to "Shang 商 -- Western Zhou 周 dynasty;" changed Date from "1600--1050 BCE" to "1400--771 BCE." Added Abel William Bahr to Constituents: Source. Changed Title from "Ritual disk, Bi 璧" to "Disk (bi 璧)"; changed Object Name from "Disk (bi 璧)" to "Ceremonial object." Added Description as per Jenny F. So and Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database.

9. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 2, 2017) Title changed from "Disk (bi)" to "Disk (bi 璧)"; period one changed from "Shang to Western Zhou dynasty" to "Probably Shang dynasty"; date changed from "1400-771 BCE" to "ca. 1600-1050 BCE"; medium changed from "Jade" to "Jade (nephrite)".

10. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 2, 2018) Chinese Translation by Jingmin Zhang added.

Removed the following description, "(Jenny So, Jade Project Database) Evenly round and quite evenly thick. Mottled greenish brownish material; cf. F1917.81. Conical hole (?), drilled off center, now polished smooth and straight. (Freer file folder) Small perforated disc of the type "bi," semi-translucent, mottled greenish and brownish yellow; a beveled area on rim, one long crack." The following description added, "Small perforated disk of the type pi [bi] 璧; semitranslucent, mottled greenish and brownish yellow; a beveled area on rim, one long crack. (Jenny F. So, Jade Project Database) Evenly round and quite evenly thick. Mottled greenish brownish material; see F1917.81. Conical hole (?), drilled off center, now polished smooth and straight."

Added the following to the Description field, "Small perforated disk of the type pi [bi] 璧; semitranslucent, mottled greenish and brownish yellow; a beveled area on rim, one long crack. (Jenny F. So, Jade Project Database) Evenly round and quite evenly thick. Mottled greenish brownish material; see F1917.81. Conical hole (?), drilled off center, now polished smooth and straight."
11. (Jeffrey Smith per Keitca. 1300-1050 BCE ca. 1300-1050 BCE h Wilson, November 18, 2024) Date changed from "ca. 1300- ca. 1050 BCE" to "ca. 1300 - 1050 BCE"

Published References

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

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Disk (bi 璧)

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