Object: Disk (bi) with raised uniform curls arranged in a grid F1918.27

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Historical period(s): Warring States period, Eastern Zhou dynasty, 475-221 BCE

Object Date: 475-221 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): Diam x D: 18.6 x 0.5 cm (7 5/16 x 3/16 in) Diam (hole): 4.4 cm (1 3/4 in)

Origin: China

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1918.27

: 凸面規則網格谷紋璧
東周戰國時期（公元前475--221年）
中國
軟玉
直徑18.6、厚0.5釐米；孔徑4.4釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾贈送
器物編號：F1918.27

Provenance: To 1918
Wang Jiantang, Shanghai, to 1918 [1]

From 1918 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854–1919), purchased from Wang Jiantang, in New York, NY, in 1918 [2]

From 1920
The Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1355, p. 313, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[2] See note 1.

[3] 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): Wang Jiantang 王鑑堂 (C.L. Freer source) (late 19th-early 20th century)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

Past label text: 1. Afterlife: Ancient Chinese Jades, October 14, 2017–April 15, 2018; by Keith Wilson (shown with F1917.356, F1917.50, F2002.16, and F1916.155)
Bi 璧 with knobs
China, Warring States period and early Han 漢 dynasty, 475–100 BCE
Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Bi 璧 Revival
Many jade forms stopped being made with the passing of the Neolithic Liangzhu 良渚 culture. Well over a thousand years later, however, the chance discovery of long forgotten Liangzhu 良渚 tombs in central China may have sparked a revival in the use of certain types of funerary objects. Some burial sites from the Zhou 周 dynasty (circa 1050–256 BCE), for example, include reburied Neolithic bi 璧, while others hold new disks placed prominently on or around the deceased, as if echoing ancient rites.

Bi 璧 unearthed in later tombs are generally made of thin slices of nephrite decorated on both sides to create a textured surface. A glassy polish gave the translucent objects a highly reflective surface that marked a new aesthetic in working with jade.

In a twist of retro fashion, the lowest bi 璧 (F1917.50) seen here was likely decorated more than two millennia after the two disks it resembles. The smooth, undecorated surface of an authentic Liangzhu 良渚 disk was reworked to look like late Bronze Age versions, a practice made popular during the reign of the Qianlong 乾隆 emperor (1735–96).

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought from K. T. Wong [Wang Jiantang] 王鑑堂, of Shanghai, in New York, NY. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 313.
2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Chou [Zhou] 周. See further, S.I. 1355, Appendix IX.
3. (Isabel Ingram Mayer, 1945) Late Chou [Zhou] 周 dynasty. For discussion of type "pi [bi] 璧," see Folder Sheet F1939.14, note 3.
4. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 2.898. Decomposed.
5. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 8, 2008) "Ceremonial Object" added as secondary classification.
6. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, April 20, 2010) Object Name changed from "Disk (bi 璧)" to "Ceremonial object."
7. (Jeffrey Smith per Janet Douglas, May 12, 2010) "Nephrite" added as modifier to existing medium of "Jade" based on conservation analysis.
8. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, June 10, 2010) Title changed from "Disk (bi 璧)" to "Disk (bi 璧) with knobs." Added "Warring States period." Date changed from "5th-3rd century BCE" to "ca. 475-221 BCE."
9. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, June 5, 2023) Title changed from "Disk (bi) with knobs" to "Disk (bi) with raised uniform curls arranged in a grid"; and added Chinese Translation by Jingmin Zhang.

Published References: Published References are currently unavailable.

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Disk (bi) with raised uniform curls arranged in a grid

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