1. Bought from Seaouke Yue [You Xiaoxi] 游筱溪, of Shanghai 上海. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 302. $40.
2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Hsia [Xia] 夏. See further, S.I. 1322, Appendix VIII. Excavated in Shensi [Shaanxi] 陝西 province.
3. (John Ellerton Lodge, 1929) Chou [Zhou] 周 dynasty.
4. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 2.871. Soft material.
5. (Archibald Gibson Wenley, 1946) Period uncertain. This may well be a Ch'ing [Qing] 清 dynasty forgery.
6. (Isabel Ingram Mayer, 1946) See F1916.628 for piece of somewhat similar shape.
7. (William B. Trousdale, 1964) Chou [Zhou] 周 dynasty. Object of unknown use. Partly decolored stone. Probably early Eastern Chou [Zhou] 周. See also related pieces, F1916.628 and F1912.52.
8. (Thomas Lawton, 1978) The kind of stone, the quality of the polish, and the silhouette of this object all suggest a Western Chou [Zhou] 周 date. See a similar example in the Fogg Museum (1943.50.482, Max Loehr, Ancient Chinese Jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University (Cambridge, MA: Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, 1975), no. 378, where it is dated Eastern Chou [Zhou] 周 (?) and illustrated upside down). Ch'ing [Qing] 清 archaistic pieces in the collection based on this type are F1912.52 and F1912.53.
For a similar jade ornament 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. 12:18. Although the Liang chu [Liangzhu] 良渚 culture is primarily a Neolithic culture, considered part of the Lung shan [Longshan] 龍山 Neolithic culture, the sites in the region also yielded later artifacts, including Chou [Zhou] 周 and Han 漢 jades.
9. (Julia K. Murray, 1980) Attribution is changed from Western Chou [Zhou] 周 to Neolithic or early Shang 商, late 2nd millennium BCE; traditional Shensi [Shaanxi] 陝西 provenance.
10. (Julia K. Murray, 1982) A fragmentary plaque nearly identical in shape to F1917.382 was found at Wu chin [Wujin] 武進 Ssu tun [Sidun] 寺墩, Kiangsu [Jiangsu] 江蘇 province, in remains from the late Liang chu [Liangzhu] 良渚 phase of the east coast Neolithic culture (Nanking po-wu-yuan [Nanjing bowuyuan] 南京博物院, "Kiangsu Wu-chin Ssu-tun i-chih te shih-chue [Jiangsu Wujin Sidun yizhi de shijue] 江蘇武進寺墩遺址的試掘," K'ao ku [Kaogu] 考古 1981.3, p. 196, fig. 6:16). The typology of pottery found with the jade plaque, and the jade ts'ung [cong] 琮 and pi [bi] 璧 also at the site, confirm that the remains belong to the Neolithic period and not a later era. Thus, it is also probable that the plaque published in 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. 12:18, discussed by Lawton above, is also Neolithic in date.
In addition to these two excavated plaques, a third was excavated at Wu hsien [Wu xian] 吳縣 Chang ling shan [Zhanglingshan] 張陵山, Kiangsu [Jiangsu] 江蘇. It is briefly described in Nanking po-wu-yuan [Nanjing bowuyuan] 南京博物院, "Kiangsu Wu-chin Ssu-tun i-chih te shih-chue [Jiangsu Wujin Sidun yizhi de shijue] 江蘇武進寺墩遺址的試掘," K'ao ku [Kaogu] 考古 1981.3, p. 196, but is not reproduced.
A fourth jade plaque, slightly more squat in shape (more like F1916.628) and decorated with a face like mask (similar to that found on Freer ts'ung [cong] 琮 F1916.118 and F1917.384, and plaques F1917.380 and F1916.511) was excavated nearby at Chiang nin [Jiangning] 江寧 Tsan miao [Zanmiao] 昝廟, Kiangsu [Jiangsu] 江蘇 province (Nanking po-wu-yuan [Nanjing bowuyuan] 南京博物院, "Kiangsu Wu-chin Ssu-tun i-chih te shih-chue [Jiangsu Wujin Sidun yizhi de shijue] 江蘇武進寺墩遺址的試掘," K'ao ku [Kaogu] 考古 1981.3, p. 197, fig. 7).
Hayashi Minao 林巳奈夫 has suggested that the shape of these plaques is descended from that represented by butterfly shaped objects made of wood that were found in remains of the Ho mu tu [Hemudu] 河姆渡 culture on the south shore of the Hangchow [Hangzhou] 杭州 Bay, in Chekiang [Zhejiang] 浙江 province. These finds, which include the earliest evidence for rice cultivation in China, have been carbon dated to 5000 BCE. See Hayashi Minao 林巳奈夫, "Ryōsho bunka no gyokki jakkano megutte 良渚文化の玉器若干をめぐって = Jade of the Liang-chu Culture," Museum 360 (1981), pp. 22--33.
11. (Undated Folder Sheet note) See F1916.628, no. 10.
12. (Undated Folder Sheet note) See F1916.118, no. 8.
13. (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.
14. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 1, 2008) Jewelry added as secondary classification.
15. (Jeffrey Smith per Janet Douglas, July 21, 2010) Nephrite added as modifier to existing medium of "jade" based on conservation analysis.
16. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, December 2, 2010) Title changed from "Pendant or fitting" to "Head ornament."
17. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 19, 2016) Title changed from "Head ornament" to "Decorative fitting for an ornamental comb"; added a note under geography stating: "Lake Tai region, China, but purportedly found in Shaanxi"; added translation, description, past label text, and unpublished research by Jenny So.
Draft catalogue entry for F1917.382; by Jenny F. So (2003)
Comb top
Neolithic period, 3000--2500 BCE
Liangzhu 良渚 culture, Lake Tai 太湖 region
Nephrite, semi-translucent pale gray-green with large areas altered white
Max. width 7.91; height 3.41 cm; 0.44--0.50 cm thick
Since the surface is smoothly polished but entirely undecorated, the shaped silhouette of this roughly trapezoidal ornament constitutes its focal attraction. The wide top describes a three-part outline: a depressed central section marked by a low raised notch in the middle, flanked by two broader sections whose outlines describe a gently rising curve toward the corners. The tapering, shouldered slides also describe a gentle curve as they meet the horizontal tang projecting from the bottom. Pierced by two holes drilled from both sides, this tang was probably meant for insertion into a fitted slot with the holes used for attachment. The undecorated surface is polished to a high gloss.
Ornaments with this distinctive silhouette often appear in the richest Liangzhu 良渚 burials. [1] Many are plain like the Freer example, and a few show man-animal images in varying degrees of complexity, raised in relief or in the rare instance, executed in openwork (fig. 1). [2] Unlike cong 琮, disks, axes, and other ornaments that often occur in multiple numbers in a single burial, only one object of this type is usually found, if at all. On some, bits of cinnabar, lacquer, and organic material (such as wood) adhere to the tang. [3] As a result, this ornament has been interpreted variously as a crown-like ornament worn by decayed idols for worship, or an insignia displayed on top of a wooden staff. But the recovery in 1999 of an undecorated jade example, almost identical to the Freer's, with ivory comb-teeth still attached to the bottom, demonstrates that such objects were ornamental tops for combs (fig.2). [4]
Since learning of its true function, scholars began to examine its development and meaning, not just in the Neolithic Liangzhu 良渚 context, but also in the context of hair ornaments throughout ancient China. The consensus is that while decorated combs in a variety of shapes and materials might have been worn as personal ornaments by Neolithic peoples everywhere, the two-part combs in the Liangzhu 良渚 context seem to possess special meaning when they display supernatural images, as on some of the most mysterious images that appear on jade ornaments (see F1939.54) and plaques (S1987.514) all show its distinctive notched silhouette as a marker of their supernatural properties.
Published: Hayashi Minao, "Ryōsho bunka no gyokki jakkano megutte 良渚文化の玉器若干をめぐって = Jade of the Liang-chu Culture." Museum 360 (1981), fig. 16; Julia K. Murray, "Neolithic Chinese Jades in the Freer Gallery of Art," Orientations 14, no. 11 (1983), p. 17.
Figures:
1. Drawing of comb top with man-animal and birds (Zhejiang sheng wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo 浙江省文物考古研究所, Shanghai shi wenwu guanli weiyuanhui 上海市文物管理委员会, and Nanjing bowuyuan 南京博物院, Liangzhu wenhua yuqi 良渚文化玉器 (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, and Hong Kong: Liangmu chubanshe, 1989), no. 121).
2. Drawing of Zhoujiabang 周家濱 jade-ivory comb (after Yang Jing 楊晶, "Liangzhu wenhua yuzhi shubei shi jiqi xiangguan wenti yanjiu 良渚文化玉質梳背飾及其相關問題研究," Wenwu 文物 2002.11, p. 56, fig. 1).
[1] For a broad selection of the different types from Liangzhu 良渚 sites, see Zhejiang sheng wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo 浙江省文物考古研究所, Shanghai shi wenwu guanli weiyuanhui 上海市文物管理委员会, and Nanjing bowuyuan 南京博物院, Liangzhu wenhua yuqi 良渚文化玉器 (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, and Hong Kong: Liangmu chubanshe, 1989), nos. 108--23.
[2] For more examples, see Zhejiang sheng wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo 浙江省文物考古研究所, Shanghai shi wenwu guanli weiyuanhui 上海市文物管理委员会, and Nanjing bowuyuan 南京博物院, Liangzhu wenhua yuqi 良渚文化玉器 (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, and Hong Kong: Liangmu chubanshe, 1989), nos. 108--23.
[3] See example from Yaoshan 瑤山 M2 (Zhejiang sheng wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo 浙江省文物考古研究所, Shanghai shi wenwu guanli weiyuanhui 上海市文物管理委员会, and Nanjing bowuyuan 南京博物院, Liangzhu wenhua yuqi 良渚文化玉器 (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, and Hong Kong: Liangmu chubanshe, 1989), nos. 120--21); also noted in Liu Bin 刘斌, "Liangzhu wenhua de guanzhuangshi yu yuntianqi 良渚文化的冠狀飾與耘田器," Wenwu 文物 1997.7, pp. 20--27.
[4] Excavated from M30 at Haiyan 海鹽 Zhoujiabang 周家濱.
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