Object: Forked blade (zhang 璋) F1916.495

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: 27.6 x 6.5 x 0.5 cm (10 7/8 x 2 9/16 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: F1916.495

: 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27.6、寬6.5、厚0.5釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾贈送
器物編號：F1916.495

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. 1041, 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 dull edges flaring to form sharp concave edge on end; lateral projection on each side above perforated tang; dull brownish black with yellowish brown under surface markings; large areas of gray incrustation.

Acquired with a box, now lost.

Past label text: 1. Ancient Chinese Art, May 9, 1993–May 18, 1998; by Jenny F. So (shown with F1916.165, F1916.491)
Ritual Blade, Zhang 璋
China, possibly Shaanxi 陝西 Province
Neolithic period or Shang 商 dynasty, ca. 2000–1500 BCE
Jade (nephrite)

Despite the rough appearance of the surface, this modest blade reveals exceptional technical mastery in the thinness of the jade and the carefully executed curves and notches.

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. $75.

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Chou [Zhou] 周. See further, S.I. 1041, Appendix VIII.

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

4. (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.

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

6. (Julia K. Murray, 1982) Chang [Zhang] 璋 F1916.495 is a smaller and flatter version of the typical chang [zhang] 璋 (for a general discussion, see Folder Sheet F1916.492). In thickness it is intermediate between the thick and thin types.

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 Elizabeth West Fitzhugh, April 1956, as determined by x ray diffraction.

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

10. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, March 21, 2016) Unattributed curatorial remark: (Jenny F. So, from Jade Project Database) Grayish olive "puddingstone." Quite thin, with rough surface (perhaps incrustation and alteration). Conical hole drilled from the back. Asymmetrical concave top slightly beveled.

11: (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, March 21, 2016) Culture changed from Qija to Longshan culture.

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. 16b.
J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .

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Forked blade (zhang 璋)

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