Object: Forked blade (zhang 璋) F1916.369

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Historical period(s): Late Neolithic period or early Shang dynasty, ca. 1600-1400 BCE

Object Date: ca. 1600-1400 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 33.7 x 4.6 x 0.9 cm (13 5/16 x 1 13/16 x 3/8 in)

Origin: China

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1916.369

: 璋
新石器时代晚期（公元前5000--1700年）或商代早期（公元前1600--1400年）
中國
軟玉
高33.7、寬4.6、厚0.9釐米
查爾斯·蘭·弗利爾贈送
器物編號：F1916.369

Provenance: To 1916
Wang Jiantang, Shanghai to 1916 [1]

From 1916 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Wang Jiantang in 1916 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1009, pg. 216, 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): Wang Jiantang 王鑑堂 (C.L. Freer source) (late 19th-early 20th century)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

Description: Ceremonial implement of the type kuei [gui] 圭; opaque, moss green with minute silvery specks and scattered light tan strata marks; area of mottled grayish brown decomposition at handle and a blue green streak at conical perforations; smoothed depressions near each end on one side; upper corner chamfered. (Handle and corner chipped.)

Acquired with an inscribed box, now lost.

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought from K .T. Wong [Wang Jiantang] 王鑑堂, Shanghai 上海. For price, see p. 216, Original Miscellaneous List. $760.

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Chou [Zhou] 周. See further, S.I. 1009, Appendix VIII.

3. (Carl Whiting Bishop, 1922) Berthold Laufer, Jade: A Study in Chinese Archaeology and Religion (Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1912), p. 92, fig. 24.

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

5. (Thomas Lawton, 1973) The following information was carved on the box in which this object arrived: "Han yu Lei kung ch'an" [Han yu Leigong chan] 漢玉雷公鏟.

6. (Julia K. Murray, 1982) (Added chang [zhang] 璋 above ceremonial implement.) The chang [zhang] 璋 F1916.369 is a variation of the basic type of chang [zhang] 璋 which lacks the lateral projections flanking the hole and has a straight rather than crescent shaped top. (For a general discussion of chang [zhang] 璋, see Folder Sheet F1916.492.) The shape of F1916.369 is long and slender, and it is relatively thick. On the upper part of both sides there is a V shaped area of slight concavity. The proportions of F1916.369 are closest to those of chang [zhang] 璋 F1939.55.

7. (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.

8. (Stephen Allee, June 11, 2008) Added designation "nephrite" to Medium as per Wen Guang 聞廣 in June 1997, as determined by infrared spectroscopy.

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

10. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, June 9, 2010) Period changed from "Late Neolithic period" to "Early Shang 商 dynasty"; deleted "Qija 齊家 Culture"; changed from Northwest China" to "China"; changed date from "ca. 2500--2000 BCE" to "ca. 1600--1300 BCE."

11. (Jeffrey Smith, April 1, 2016) Transferred from the description field: (Jenny So, from Jade Project Database) Opaque moss green with pale greyish specks. Conical hole. Top straight with one damged corner ground smooth. Hint of reground notches just above tang, suggested by slight "swelling" of the edges. Even silhouette. Blunt ends.(Joseph Chang) Ceremonial implement of the type "kuei;" opaque, moss-green with minute silvery specks and scattered light tan strata marks; area of mottled grayish brown decomposition at handle and a blue-green streak at conical perforations; smooth depressions near each end on one side; upper corner chamfered. Handle and corner chipped.
12. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, April 8, 2020) Geography changed from "Sichuan province, Sanxingdui, China" to "China."

Published References

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

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Forked blade (zhang 璋)

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