Object: Forked blade (zhang 璋) F1916.493

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Maker(s): Artist: Erlitou culture 二里頭 (ca. 2000-1600 BCE)

Historical period(s): Late Neolithic period, ca. 2000-1600 BCE

Object Date: ca. 2000-1600 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 26.9 x 6.8 x 0.4 cm (10 9/16 x 2 11/16 x 1/8 in)

Origin: China, probably Henan province

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1916.493

: 璋
新石器時代晚期二里頭文化（公元前2000--1600年）
中國
軟玉
高26.9、寬6.8、厚0.4釐米
查爾斯·蘭·弗利爾贈送
器物編號：F1916.493

Provenance: To 1916
You Xiaoxi, Shanghai, to 1916 [1]

From 1916 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from You Xiaoxi, in New York 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. 1039, pg. 231, 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): You Xiaoxi 游篠溪 (C.L. Freer source) (late 19th-early 20th century)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

Description: Ceremonial implement; blade with lateral edges flaring slightly to form concave upper end; indented lateral projections on each side above perforated tang; opaque black with small brown strata mark on tang; areas of silvery incrustation.

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought from Seaouke Yue [You Xiaoxi] 游筱溪, of Shanghai 上海, in New York. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 231. $100.

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Chou [Zhou] 周. See further, S.I. 1039, Appendix VIII.

3. (John Ellerton Lodge, 1929) Han 漢.

4. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 3.092. Nephrite.

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

6. (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.

7. (Elisabeth West Fitzhugh, 1956) X ray diffraction analysis. Nephrite. Film F 156. April 12, 1956.

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

9. (Julia K. Murray, 1982) (Added word chang [zhang] 璋 above ceremonial implement.) Chang [Zhang] 璋 F1916.493 represents a variation of the typical chang [zhang] 璋 in which the pair of lateral projections near the hole is replaced by more elaborate crenellations. See Folder Sheet F1916.492 for discussion of chang [zhang] 璋; and F1916.165 for a discussion of another chang [zhang] 璋 of the crenellated type.

10. (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.

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

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

13. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, April 1, 2016) Culture changed from Quija to Erlitou culture.

14. (Jeffrey Smith, April 1, 2016) Transferred from the description field: (Jenny So, from Jade Project Database) Dark olive-grey. Sharply angular in shape, especially the tang, suggest re-shaping after damage? Conical hole. Two sets of double-crenellated notches at base of blade. (Joseph Chang) Ceremonial implement; blade with lateral edges flaring slightly to form concave upper end; indented lateral projections on each side above perforated tang; opaque black with small brown strata mark on tang; areas of silvery incrustation. Box.)

Published References

You Xiaoxi, Hsiao-chi Yu in, Chi-Tseng Chang. "游筱溪." Masterpieces of Chinese National Art: The Collection of Mr. Seaouke'e Yue. Shanghai, 1916. no. 15.
J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
Minao Hayashi. Chūgoku kodai no ishibōchōkei gyokki to kotsusenkei gyokki [Two Types of Prehistorical Chinese Ceremonial Jade Objects: Stone Harvesting Knives and Bone Spades]. no. 54, 1982. p. 58, fig. 68.
Minao Hayashi. Chūgoku kogyoku no kenkyū. Tokyo, 1991. p. 497, fig. 6: 120.

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Forked blade (zhang 璋)

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