Object: Sword scabbard chape with geometric decoration F1917.513

Classification: Weapon and Armament

Historical period(s): Han dynasty, 206 BCE-220 CE

Object Date: 206 BCE-220 CE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 6.1 × 7.1 × 1.6 cm (2 3/8 × 2 13/16 × 5/8 in)

Origin: China

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1917.513

: 幾何紋劍珌
漢代（公元前206--公元220年）
中國，傳陝西出土
軟玉
高6.1、寬7.1、厚1.6釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾贈送
器物編號：F1917.513

Provenance: Reportedly excavated in Shensi 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 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. 1334, pg. 306, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. See also, F1917.394, Curatorial Remarks, in the object record.

[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)

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought from Seaouke Yue [You Xiaoxi] 游筱溪, of Shanghai 上海. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 306.
2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Shang 商. See further, S.I. 1334, Appendix VIII.
3. (John Ellerton Lodge, 1927) Han 漢 or earlier.
4. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 2.955.
5. (Isabel Ingram Mayer, 1945) Late Chou [Zhou] 周 dynasty. See Berthold Laufer, Jade: A Study in Chinese Archaeology and Religion (Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1912), p. 283, fig. 187.
6. (William B. Trousdale, 1964) Han 漢 dynasty. See note with similar piece, F1917.394.
7. (Thomas Lawton, 1978) Western Han 漢. See Folder Sheet for F1917.394, Paragraph 8.
8. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, August 12, 2008) Weapon and Armament added as secondary classification.
9. (Jeffrey Smith per Matthew Clarke, July 8, 2022) Medium changed from "Jade" to "Jade (nephrite)."
10. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, February 5, 2024) Title changed from "Sword fitting: scabbard ornament" to "Sword scabbard chape with geometric decoration"; Date changed from "Western Han dynasty" to "Han dynasty"; Date changed from "206 BCE-9 CE" to "206 BCE-220 CE"; added Chinese caption by Jingmin Zhang; added the following to the Description field "Sword fitting: Scabbard ornament; flattened bell shape, one large, four small perforations on top; semitranslucent, greenish white with earth colored coating and scattered areas of chalky white decomposition in rough granular pits; decoration: in sensible relief and incised, alike on both sides, conventionalized form of t’ao t’ieh [taotie] mask; geometric design on base.
Acquired with a box, now lost."

Published References: Published References are currently unavailable.

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

Sword scabbard chape with geometric decoration

Related Objects

Related Media

Web Resources