Jades for Life and Death

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Maker(s): Artist: Probably Longshan culture 龍山 (ca. 3000-ca. 1700 BCE)

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

Object Date: ca. 3000-1700 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): Diam x D: 14 x 0.5 cm (5 1/2 x 3/16 in) Diam (hole): 7 cm (2 3/4 in)

Origin: China, Lake Tai region

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1917.81

: 手鐲
疑似新石器時代晚期龍山文化（公元前3000--1700年）
中國
軟玉
高0.5、直徑14釐米；孔徑7釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾贈送
器物編號：F1917.81

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. 1168, 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)

Description: Thin, flat disc of the type yuan 瑗; translucent celadon green with golden tan mottlings; rim beveled to a pointed edge; large perforation.

Acquired with a box, now lost.

Past label text: 1. Liangzhu 良渚 and its Legacy, November 4, 2010–January 3, 2016; by Keith Wilson (shown with F1917.141, F1919.48, F1919.46; additional jade pendant and head ornaments shown in same case)
Bracelet
China, late Neolithic period, ca. 3300–1700 BCE
Probably Longshan 龍山 culture, ca. 2000–1700 BCE
Jade (nephrite)

Since the earliest of times, jade was treasured as a material of status in China. This rare and beautifully colored stone was transformed into bracelets, pendants, head ornaments, and other forms of jewelry. Some of the examples found in Lianghzu 良渚 culture tombs must have played a ritual function, for many pieces bear a mask motif that is also commonly found on objects surely created for burial rites. Variations of this design are seen on two of the four arched plaques (F1916.511, F1917.380, F1917.378c, F1917.378d), while a more geometric treatment appears on the tall cuff bracelet (F1919.46). The surface surrounding the masks was meticulously ground away to emphasize the large eyes and oblong mouth in relief. Found only in the richest of Liangzhu 良渚 tombs, such decorated jade plaques were probably attached to headdresses. The pairs of holes on the back allowed them to be sewn to cloth turbans worn by the deceased. Previous owners cleaned and repeatedly handled these jades, which were possibly unearthed centuries ago, and over time the fine surface details were obscured and the color and translucency of the natural stone dulled.

2. (Keith Wilson, "Afterlife: Ancient Chinese Jades," Gallery 19, Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Oct. 14, 2017 to Apr 15, 2018)

Bracelets
Liangzhu culture, ca. 3300–2250 BCE
F1919.48, F1917.141
Probably Longshan culture, ca. 2000–1700 BCE
Gift of Charles Lang Freer F1917.81

Status Symbols
Special bracelets, pendants, and head ornaments found in tombs must have played a ritual function in the lives of the Liangzhu people. A mask motif is commonly found on objects created for ceremonies and burial rites. Examples seen here emphasize the large eyes and oblong mouth in relief that were created by laboriously grinding away the surrounding background. Decorated jade plaques with a rounded top like these have been discovered near skulls in tombs. Pairs of holes on the back suggest the plaques were once sewn to a leather or cloth headdress worn by the deceased.

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought from Lee Van Ching [Li Wenqing] 李文卿, of Shanghai 上海, in New York. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 269. $150.

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Han 漢. See further, S.I. 1168, Appendix VIII.

3. (Isabel Ingram Mayer, 1945) Chou [Zhou] 周 dynasty. For discussion of type, see Folder F1939.14, note 3.

4. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 2.947.

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

6. (Thomas Lawton, 1978) Attribution changed from Chou [Zhou] 周 to Ch'ing [Qing] 清.

7. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, February 8, 2008) On this date entered: Period One (Late Neolithic period), Date (3300--2250 BCE), Artist (Liangzhu 良渚 culture), Title, Object name, Geographical region (Lake Tai 太湖 region); plus Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database.

8. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 29, 2008) Ceremonial object added as secondary classification.

9. (Jeffrey Smith per Janet Douglas, July 21, 2010) Nephrite added as modifier to existing medium of "jade" based on conservation analysis.

10. (Susan Kitsoulis per label text from exhibition of Ancient Chinese Jades and Bronzes, Freer Gallery of Art, November 20, 2010) Changed from "Liangzhu 良渚 culture" to "Probably Longshan 龍山 Culture"; date changed from "ca. 3300--2250 BCE" to "ca. 2000--1700 BCE."

11. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, December 2, 2010) Title changed from "Ring (yuan 瑗)" to "Bracelet."

12. . (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, May 10, 2016) Object date changed from ca. 2000-1700 BCE to ca. 3000-1700 BCE.

Unpublished Research: Draft catalogue entry for F1917.81; by Jenny F. So (2003)

Ring-Bracelet
Neolithic period, ca. 3000--2500 BCE
Lower Yellow or Yangzi 揚子 river valleys
Nephrite, translucent yellow-green with golden-tan streaks
Diameter 13.88--14.04 cm; hole 6.86--7.00 cm; thickness 0.51 cm
F1917.81

An irregularly round disk is made from a fine-grained translucent nephrite. The faces for the disk are unevenly ground but taper to an almost sharply honed edge. The slightly convex walls of the central perforation suggest that it was drilled from both faces and finished smooth.

Such rings with lens-shaped cross-sections have often been associated with northeast China and classified as pendants because it would seem cumbersome and impractical to wear it any other way. [1] However, excavations of Neolithic burials across east China have consistently turned up similar rings worn around the wrists of the buried, so that their function as bracelets cannot be disputed. The adult male occupant of M20 at Huating 花廳 wore three such lens-shaped ring bracelets on his wrist. [2] The openings on the rings are all over six centimeters. These lens-shaped bracelets were recovered with cylindrical and round bracelets in the other graves at Huating 花廳 demonstrating that these different shaped bracelets were used concurrently during the third millennium BCE.

[1] See Yang Meili 楊美莉, "Xuanzi you huan, qiyi zai zhengshang: Gudai xibei diqu de huanxingyu, shiqi xilie zhi wu: Lianhuanxing yuqi yu xibei diqu de yuqi qiege 宣子有環其一在鄭商：古代西北地區的環形玉、石器系列之五：聯環形玉器與西北地區的玉器切割," Gugong wenwu yuekan 故宮文物月刊 = The National Palace Museum Monthly of Chinese Art 138 (1994), pp. 62--75, for a detailed discussion of northwestern rings in jade.

[2] Nanjing bowuyuan 南京博物院, "1987 nian Jiangsu Xinyi Huating yizhi de fajue 1987年江蘇新沂花廳遺址的發掘," Wenwu 文物 1990.2, p. 6, fig. 27:12--13, pl. 4:3, 5.

Published References

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

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