Jades for Life and Death

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Maker(s): Artist: Liangzhu culture 良渚 (ca. 3300-ca. 2250 BCE)

Historical period(s): Late Neolithic period, ca. 3300-2250 BCE

Object Date: ca. 3300-2250 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): Diam x D: 22.4 x 1.4 cm (8 13/16 x 9/16 in)

Origin: China, Lake Tai region, purportedly found in Zhejiang province

Notes: purportedly found in Zhejiang province

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1917.347

: 璧
新石器時代晚期良渚文化（公元前3300--2250年）
中國太湖地區，傳浙江出土
軟玉
直徑22.4、厚1.4釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾贈送
器物編號：F1917.347

Provenance: Reportedly excavated in Chekiang province [1]

To 1917
You Xiaoxi (late 19th-early 20th century), Shanghai, to 1917 [2]

From 1917 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from You Xiaoxi, in New York, in 1917 [3]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [4]

Notes:

[1] According to Curatorial Remark 2 in the object record.

[2] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1287, pg. 288, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[3] See note 2.

[4] 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: Perforated disk of the type pi [bi] 璧; bored from both sides, leaving sharp, irregular median ridge; richly mottled brilliant greens, black, and veins of golden brown, one side darker; proportions irregular; surface satin smooth. (Rim slightly chipped.)

Acquired with a box, now lost.

Past label text: Ancient Chinese Jade, September 4, 1980–March 6, 1981; by Julia K. Murray (shown with F1917.83, F1917.354, F1918.25, F1917.350, F1919.19, F1919.85, F1918.28, F1916.380, F1916.505, F1919.30; additional disks of later periods shown in same case)

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. 288. $175.

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Chou [Zhou] 周. See further, S.I. 1287, Appendix VIII. Excavated from Chekiang [Zhejiang] 浙江 province.

3. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 3.001. Nephrite.

4. (Thomas Lawton, 1978) Western Chou [Zhou] 周.

5. (Julia K. Murray, 1980) From Ancient Chinese Jade exhibition label: Attribution changed from Western Chou [Zhou] 周 to Neolithic, ca. 2000 BCE.

6. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, February 26, 2008) On this date entered: Description per Jenny F. So and Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database.

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

8. (Jeffrey Smith, April 11, 2016) Transferred from Description:

(Jenny So, from Jade Project Database) Mottled green, brown, and black. Biconical hole, off-center but round, with ridge at meeting point. Unevenly round and thick. Surface satin smooth and even, possibly result of later repolishing.

Perforated disc of the type "pi;" bored from both sides leaving sharp, irregular median ridge; richly mottled brilliant greens, black and veins of golden brown, one side darker; proportions irregular; surface satin smooth. Rim slightly chipped. Box.

Published References

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

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