Jades for Life and Death

Classification: Jewelry and Ornament

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

Historical period(s): Late Neolithic period, late 3rd millenium BCE

Object Date: late 3rd millenium BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x Diam: 1.1 x 7.1 cm (7/16 x 2 13/16 in) Diam (hole): 5.2 cm (2 1/16 in)

Origin: China, Shandong Province, but purportedly found in Shaanxi

Notes: but purportedly found in Shaanxi

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1917.391

: 手鐲
新石器時代晚期龍山文化（公元前3000--1700年）
中國山東省，原傳陝西出土
軟玉
高1.1、直徑7.1釐米；孔徑5.2釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾贈送
器物編號：F1917.391

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. 1331, pg. 305, 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: Bracelet; flat sides and rounded rim; mottled yellow green and browns; extensive cream-colored incipient disintegration; flattened area on rim; proportions irregular; surface smooth.

Acquired with a box, now lost.

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought from Seaouke Yue [You Xiaoxi] 游筱溪 of Shanghai 上海. Said to have been excavated in Shensi [Shaanxi] 陝西. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 305.

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Hsia [Xia] 夏. See further, S.I. 1331, Appendix VIII.

3. (Isabel Ingram Mayer, 1945) Chou [Zhou] 周 dynasty.

4. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 2.925.

5. (Thomas Lawton, 1978) Attribution changed from Chou [Zhou] 周 to Neolithic.

6. (Julia K. Murray, 1982) For a discussion of bangles, see Folder Sheet F1917.387. In its proportions and slightly irregular contours, bangle F1917.391 is closest to two Neolithic examples excavated in Shantung [Shandong] 山東 province, one from Ta wen k'ou [Dawenkou] 大汶口 (Shantung sheng wen-wu kuan-li-ch'u [Shandong sheng wenwu guanlichu] 山東省文物管理處 and Chinan shih po-wu-kuan [Jinan shi bowuguan] 濟南市博物館, Ta wen k'ou: Hsin-shih-ch'i shih-tai mu-tsang fa-chueh pao-kao [Dawenkou: Xinshiqi shidai muzang fajue baogao] 大汶口：新石器時代墓葬發掘報告 (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1974), pl. 98:4 [M3:4]), and one from Ching chih chen [Jingzhi zhen] 景芝鎮 (Wang Ssu-li [Wang Sili] 王思禮, "Shantung An-ch'iu Ching-chih chen hsin-shih-ch'I shih-tai mu-tsang fa-chueh [Shandong Anqiu Jingzhi zhen xinshiqi shidai muzang fajue] 山東安丘景芝鎮新石器時代墓葬發掘," K'ao ku hsueh pao [Kaogu xuebao] 考古學報 1959.4, pl. 6:5 [from M2]). Both examples belong to the Shantung [Shandong] 山東 Lung shan [Longshan] 龍山 culture, which has produced carbon 14 dates (corrected) ranging from 2405--1810 BCE.

7. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, June 17, 2008) As per Jenny F. So, Jade Project Database, changed Date from "ca. 2000 BCE" to "late 3rd millennium BCE"; added "Longshan 龍山 culture" as Artist; added "Shandong 山東 province" to Geographical Location. Changed Object Name from "Bracelet" to "Jewelry." Added designation "nephrite" to Medium as per Elisabeth West Fitzhugh, as determined by x ray diffraction in July 1980. Added Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database.

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

9. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, May 6, 2016) Period changed from Neolithic period to Late Neolithic period, with object dates changed from late 3rd millenium BCE (with search dates -2405 to -1810) to ca. 3000-1700 BCE.

Published References

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

CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0): This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections..

Save this image | Terms of use

Bracelet

Related Objects

Related Media

Web Resources