Jades for Life and Death

Classification: Jewelry and Ornament

Historical period(s): Eastern Zhou dynasty, 4th-3rd century BCE

Object Date: 4th-3rd century BCE

Medium: Jade

Dimension(s): H: 9.2 cm (3 5/8 in)

Origin: China

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1915.231

Provenance: To 1915
Abel William Bahr (1877-1959), New York, NY, to 1915 [1]

From 1915 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Abel William Bahr, New York, in 1915 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 758, pg. 167, 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)

Curatorial Remarks

1. Purchased from A.W. Bahr, New York. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 167.

2. Original attribution: T'ang. See further, S.I. 758, Appendix VII.

3. (A.G.W., 1945) T'ang dynasty, or earlier.

4. (Undated folder sheet note) Sp. G. is 2.996. Nephrite.

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

6. (T. Lawton, 1978) Attribution changed from "T'ang dynasty, or earlier" to "Late Eastern Chou, Warring States Period." Cf. Loehr, "Ancient Chinese Jades," no. 465.

7. (T. Lawton, 1982, from an exhibition catalogue) Fashioned from cream nephrite, the body of the garment hook is an elongated rectangle, with rounded corners, that tapers toward the hook. The upper face of the body is decorated with a raised spiral motif framed by a concave border. Five notches accent the contours of the double concave bands that ornament the sides of the hook piece. Notches of this type, which frequently occur on jade carvings dating from the Warring States period, probably were used to emphasize the sharp edges that are characteristic of late Eastern Chou jade workmanship. The hook itself is shaped as an animal head, with features modeled in high relief. A plain oval button is placed transversally on the back.
Similar jade belt hooks are in other Western collections.

8. (J. Smith per Keith Wilson, 7/1/2008) Jewelry added as secondary classification

9. (S. Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, 9 July 2010) Deleted "belt hook" from object name

10. (S. Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, 15 March 20011) Object name changed from "Jewelry" to "Garment hook"; Title changed from "Belt hook (garment hook), Dai Gou" to "Garment hook (daigou)" .

Published References: Published References are currently unavailable.

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Garment hook (daigou)

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