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 W x D: 3.1 × 6 × 7 cm (1 1/4 × 2 3/8 × 2 3/4 in)

Origin: China, Lake Tai region, but purportedly found in Shaanxi province

Notes: but purportedly found in Shaanxi province

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1917.378c

: 頭飾
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3.1、寬6、厚0.6 釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾贈送
器物編號：F1917.378

Provenance: Purportedly found in Shaanxi 陝西 [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 1 in the object record.

[2] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1318, p. 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; small thin plaque with slightly convex surface, rounded top, and straight base; mottled white and dull tan; satin smooth surface; reverse is slightly concave and covered with chalky white deposit, three small, two-holed conical perforations for attachment bored vertically, at top, and each side. One of a set; see F1917.378a, F1917.378b, and F1917.378d.

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 F1916.511, F1917.380, F1917.378d, and other jewelry)
Head ornaments
China, Neolithic period, Liangzhu 良渚 culture, ca. 3300–2250 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 Liangzhu 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 ceremonies and burial rites. Variations of this design are seen on two of the four arched plaques shown here (F1916.511 and F1917.380), 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 may have 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)

Head ornaments
Liangzhu culture, ca. 3300–2250 BCE
Gift of Charles Lang Freer F1917.378c

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 Seaokue Yue [You Xiaoxi] 游筱溪, of Shanghai 上海. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 301. $100 for set. 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 2.893.

6. (William B. Trousdale, 1964) Chou [Zhou] 周 dynasty. Western Chou [Zhou] 周, 9th--8th century BCE. Though undecorated, form is related to F1916.511 and F1917.380, and presumably of same date.

7. (Thomas Lawton, 1978) For an illustration of a similar jade plaque unearthed from a Liang chu [Liangzhu] 良渚 culture site in the Hangchou [Hangzhou] 杭州 Bay region of Chekiang [Zhejiang] 浙江 province, see Ch'en Tso fu [Chen Zuofu] 陳左夫, "Liang-chu ku-yu t'an-t'ao [Liangzhu guyu tantao] 良渚古玉探討," K'ao ku t'ung hsun [Kaogu tongxun] 考古通訊 1957.2, pl. 12:15. Although the Liang chu [Liangzhu] 良渚 culture is primarily a Neolithic culture, considered part of the Lung shan [Longshan] 龍山 Neolithic culture, its sites also yielded later artifacts, including Chou [Zhou] 周 and Han 漢 jades.

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

9. (Julia K. Murray, 1982) Plaques F1917.378c and F1917.378d are both closely related to the type of jade ornament belonging to the late phase of Liang chu [Liangzhu] 良渚 culture, represented by the excavated piece cited above by Lawton. Two other plaques in the Freer collection, which differ in being larger and in bearing surface decoration resembling demonic masks, are F1916.511 and F1917.380. All four plaques, however, seem intended to perform the same function, for all are drilled in back with three pairs of holes for attachment or stringing. In addition to being smaller than the two decorated plaques, F1917.378c and F1917.378d are also slightly different in their proportions, being wider relative to height.

10. (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.

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

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

13. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, December 2, 2010) Title and object name changed from "Headdress" to "Head ornament."

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. 59.

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