Object: Forked blade (zhang 璋), fragment F1916.168

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Historical period(s): Late Neolithic period, ca. 3000-ca. 1700 BCE

Object Date: ca. 3000-ca. 1700 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 17.8 × 5.9 × 0.4 cm (7 × 2 5/16 × 3/16 in)

Origin: China

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1916.168

: 璋（殘損）
新石器時代晚期,公元前3000--1700年
中國
軟玉
高17.8、寬5.9、厚0.4釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾贈送
器物編號: F1916.168

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. 881, pg. 192, 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: Portion of a chang; long thin chisel shaped object of the type kuei; diagonal sharp blade, and slightly flaring corners at opposite end; circular perforation; brownish black with shadows under surface spots and streaks on each surface; satin smooth.

Acquired with a box, now lost.

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought from Lai Yuan 來遠 and Company, in New York. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 192.

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: "Ancient." See further, S.I. 881, Appendix VII (see Paragraph 5).

3. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 3.019. Nephrite.

4. (Archibald Gibson Wenley, 1945) Chou [Zhou] 周 dynasty.

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

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

7. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 8, 2008) Weapon and Armament added as secondary classification.

8. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, April 20, 2010) Object name changed from "Weapon: zhang 璋" to "Ceremonial object"; Title from "Portion of a chang [zhang] 璋" to "Forked chisel (zhang 璋), fragment."

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

10. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 15, 2017) Title changed from "Forked blade (zhang), fragment" to "Forked blade (zhang 璋), fragment"; and Period One changed from "Shang or Western Zhou dynasty" to "Late Neolithic period".

11. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, November 28, 2018) Date changed from "ca. 2000-ca. 1700 BCE" to "ca. 3000-1700 BCE"; Geography changed from "Shenmu Shimao, probably Shaanxi province, China" to "China".

Description changed from "Chinese Late Shang--Early Western Chou Portion of a "chang" Long thin chisel-shaped object of the type "kuei;" diagonal sharp blade, and slightly flaring corners at opposite ends; circular perforation; brownish-black with shadowy under surface spots and streaks on each surface; satin smooth. Box." to "Portion of a chang; long thin chisel shaped object of the type kuei; diagonal sharp blade, and slightly flaring corners at opposite end; circular perforation; brownish black with shadows under surface spots and streaks on each surface; satin smooth. Acquired with a box, now lost."

Published References

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

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Forked blade (zhang 璋), fragment

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