Object: Forked blade (zhang 璋) F1916.166

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Maker(s): Artist: Longshan culture 龍山 (ca. 3000-ca. 1700 BCE)

Historical period(s): Late Neolithic period, ca. 2000-1700 BCE

Object Date: ca. 2000-1700 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 38.7 x 8.1 x 0.4 cm (15 1/4 x 3 3/16 x 3/16 in)

Origin: China, probably Shaanxi province, Shenmu Shimao

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1916.166

: 璋
新石器時代晚期龍山文化（公元前3000--1700年）
中國西北
軟玉
高38.7、寬8.1、厚0.4釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾贈送
器物編號：F1916.166

Provenance: To 1916
Lai-Yuan and Company, New York, to 1916 [1]

From 1916 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Lai-Yuan and Company in 1916 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 879, pg. 191, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[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): Lai-Yuan & Company (C.L. Freer source) (ca. 1915-April 1921)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

Description: Ceremonial implement; blade slightly concave on both sides; lateral edges flare to form a concave end with chamfered corners; longitudinal median ridge on one surface; lateral projections on each side above a perforated tang; smoky black with yellowish green translucence in thinnest areas; unctuous surface. (One projection broken; chipped.)

Acquired with a box, now lost.

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought from Lai Yuan and Company 來遠公司, New York. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 191. $510.

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. "Ancient." See further, S.I. 879, Appendix VII (see Paragraph 6).

3. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 2.971. Nephrite.

4. (Archibald Gibson Wenley, 1946) Shang 商 dynasty.

5. (Undated Folder Sheet note) See Folder Sheet F1916.491, Archibald Gibson Wenley, note 5. For fuller discussion, see Folder Sheet F1916.492, Archibald Gibson Wenley, note 5.

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

7. (Thomas Lawton, 1978) Late Shang 商 Early Western Chou [Zhou] 周.

8. (Julia K. Murray, 1982) Chang [Zhang] 璋 F1916.166 is a thin version of the typical chang [zhang] 璋 (see Folder Sheet F1916.492 for discussion). One lateral projection and both crescentic points have broken off (the use of the term "chamfered" in the general description is not really accurate). The thickness of this chang [zhang] 璋 differs on either side of the median ridge visible on one surface.

9. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, March 31, 2008) On this date entered: Period One (Late Neolithic period), Date (ca. 2500--2000 BCE), Artist (Qijia 齊家 culture), Title, Object name, Geographical region (Northwest China); plus Description per Jenny F. So and Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database.

10. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 17, 2008) Ceremonial object added as secondary classification.

11. (Jeffrey Smith per Janet Douglas, June 17, 2010) Nephrite added as modifier to existing medium of "jade" based on conservation analysis.

12. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, March 21, 2016) Undated curatorial remark: (Jenny F. So, from Jade Project Database) Dark grayish olive "puddingstone." Pronounced ridge running lengthwise down median of one face (all the way to tang), branching into "Y" at top to match the concave edge. Tips now both broken. Conical hole drilled from face without ridge. Notch continues smoothly from blade, not blunted. One notch has been broken.

13. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, March 21, 2016) Culture changed from Qija culture to Longshan culture, with dates of Longshan updating the object's dates.

Published References

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

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Forked blade (zhang 璋)

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