Jades for Life and Death

Classification: Jewelry and Ornament

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): H x Diam: 1.7 x 2.2 cm (11/16 x 7/8 in)

Origin: China, Lake Tai region, but purportedly found at Shaanxi

Notes: but purportedly found at Shaanxi

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1917.378a

: 珠子
新石器時代晚期良渚文化（公元前3300--2250年）
中國太湖地區，原傳陝西出土
軟玉
高1.7、直徑2.2釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾贈送
器物編號：F1917.378a

Provenance: Reportedly excavated in Shensi [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 1917 [3]

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

Notes:

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

[2] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1318, pg. 301, 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: Ornament; irregularly rounded bead form with flat ends, perforation bored from both sides leaving slight median ridge; mottled cream and golden tan with dark specklings; one distinct and one rough crescent incised on opposite sides. One of a set; see F1917.378b, F1917.378c, and F1917.378d.

Acquired with a box, now lost.

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought from Seaokue Yue [You Xiaoxi] 游筱溪, of Shanghai 上海. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 301. Said to have been excavated in Shensi [Shaanxi] 陝西.

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Hsia [Xia] 夏. See further, S.I. 1318, Appendix VIII.

3. (John Ellerton Lodge, 1928) Late Chou [Zhou] 周.

4. (Isabel Ingram Mayer, 1945) Chou [Zhou] 周 dynasty or earlier.

5. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 2.909.

6. (William B. Trousdale, 1964) Chou [Zhou] 周 dynasty. Because of association with F1917.378c and F1917.378d, Western Chou [Zhou] 周, 9th--8th century BCE. Such beads are otherwise difficult to date. Perforation drilled from both sides.

7. (Julia K. Murray, 1980) Attribution changed from Western Chou [Zhou] 周 to Neolithic, ca. 2000 BCE.

8. (Undated Folder Sheet note) See F1916.118, no. 10.

9. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, February 29, 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.

10. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 1, 2008) Jewelry added as secondary classification.

Published References

J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
Julia Murray. Neolithic Chinese Jades in the Freer Gallery of Art. vol. 14, no. 11 Hong Kong, November 1983. p. 18.
Elizabeth Childs-Johnson, Fang Gu. Yuqi shidai: Meiguo bowuguan cang Zhongguo zaoqi yuqi [The Jade Age: Early Chinese Jades in American Museums]. Beijing, 2009. p. 58.

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