Object: Disk (bi) with raised pyramids arranged in a grid, fragment, redecorated F1917.51

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Historical period(s): Han dynasty, 206 BCE-220 CE

Object Date: 206 BCE-220 CE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 7.2 × 13.4 × 0.4 cm (2 13/16 × 5 1/4 × 3/16 in)

Origin: China

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1917.51

凸面網格錐紋璧（殘損，後期重新雕飾）
漢代（公元前206--公元220年）
中國
軟玉
直徑18.6、厚0.5釐米；孔徑4.4釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾贈送
器物編號：F1917.51

Provenance: To 1917
Li Wenqing (late 19th-early 20th century), Shanghai, to 1917 [1]

From 1917 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Li Wenqing, in New York, in 1917 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1140, pg. 257, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. See also, Voucher No. 18, December 1916.

[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): Li Wenqing 李文卿 (C.L. Freer source) (ca. 1869-1931)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought from Lee Van Ching [Li Wenqing] 李文卿, of Shanghai 上海, in New York, NY. For price, see Original Miscellaneous list, p. 257.
2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Han 漢. See further, S.I. 1140, Appendix VIII (see Paragraph 7).
3. (Carl Whiting Bishop, 1922) Seems possible that this may be a fragment of a pi [bi] 璧, utilized to be cut into a dragon or tiger design; the incised lines cut right across the grain pattern and the two perforations appear to be of later cut.
4. (Isabel Ingram Mayer, 1945) Possibly cut down from a Chou [Zhou] 周 pi [bi] 璧, incised decoration added in Han 漢 times.
5. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 2.933.
6. (William B. Trousdale, 1964) Han 漢 dynasty, decorated in Ch'ing [Qing] 清 dynasty. The object is a section of a perforated disk, probably of Han age, decorated with low round grains with a spiral incised on each. Later polishing has obliterated much of this early design. At a later date, probably Ch'ing [Qing] 清, the contours were slightly altered and an animal design summarily applied to the surface in an archaistic thread line.
7. (H. Elise Buckman, 1964) The Envelope File contained no further information, and has now been destroyed.
8. (Thomas Lawton, 1973) The following information was carved on the box in which this object arrived: Han huang 漢璜.
9. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, August 22, 2008) "Jewelry" and "Ornament" added as secondary classification.
10. (Jeffrey Smith per Matthew Clarke, July 8, 2022) Medium changed from "Jade" to "Jade (nephrite)."
11. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, June 5, 2023) Classification changed from "Jewelry and Ornament"; Object Name changed from "Pendant: huang" to "Ceremonial object: disk (bi)"; Title changed from "Ornament: Flat plaque cut in arc of circle, of the type huang" to "Disk (bi) with raised pyramids arranged in a grid, fragment, redecorated"; and added Chinese Translation.

Published References: Published References are currently unavailable.

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Disk (bi) with raised pyramids arranged in a grid, fragment, redecorated

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