Jades for Life and Death

Classification: Ceremonial Object

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): Diam x D: 23.6 x 1.4 cm (9 5/16 x 9/16 in)

Origin: China, Lake Tai region, purportedly found at Xiaxi 下溪, Zhejiang 浙江

Notes: purportedly found at Xiaxi 下溪, Zhejiang 浙江

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1919.19

: 璧
新石器時代晚期良渚文化（公元前3300--2250年）
中國太湖地區，傳浙江下溪出土
軟玉
直徑23.6、厚1.4釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾贈送
器物編號：F1919.19

Provenance: Reportedly excavated in Hsi-hsi, Chekiang [1]

Duanfang (1861-1911) [2]

To 1919
You Xiaoxi (late 19th-early 20th century), Shanghai, to 1919 [3]

1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from You Xiaoxi, in New York, in 1919 [4]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [5]

Notes:

[1] According to Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record: "Formerly in the collection of the Viceroy Tuan Fang, and said to have been excavated in Hsi-hsi, Chekiang."

[2] See note 1.

[3] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1398, pg. 326, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[4] See note 3.

[5] 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): Duanfang 端方 (1861-1911)
You Xiaoxi 游篠溪 (C.L. Freer source) (late 19th-early 20th century)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

Description: Perforated disk of the type pi [bi] 璧; bored from both sides, leaving median ridge; richly mottled bright bluish-green, golden tan, and brown; cream-colored fleckings of incipient disintegration, more extensive on one side; dull luster, one strata crack. (Chip on rim.)

Acquired with a box, now lost.

Past label text: Ancient Chinese Jade, September 4, 1980–March 6, 1981; by Julia K. Murray (shown with F1917.83, F1917.354, F1918.25, F1917.350, F1919.85, F1917.347, F1918.28, F1916.380, F1916.505, F1919.30; additional disks of later periods shown in same case)

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought from Seaouke Yue [You Xiaoxi] 游筱溪 of Shanghai 上海, in New York. Formerly in the collection of the Viceroy Tuan Fang [Duanfang] 端方, and said to have been excavated in Hsi hsi [Xiaxi] 下溪, Chekiang [Zhejiang] 浙江. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 326. $300.

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Chou [Zhou] 周. See further, S.I. 1398, Appendix IX.

3. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 3.001. Nephrite.

4. (H. Elise Buckman, 1964) The Envelope File contained no further information, and has now been destroyed.

5. (Julia K. Murray, 1980) From Ancient Chinese Jade exhibition label: Attribution changed from Western Chou [Zhou] 周 to Neolithic, ca. 2000 BCE, traditional Chekiang [Zhejiang] 浙江 provenance.

6. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, March 3, 2008) On this date entered: Period One (Late Neolithic period), Date (ca. 5000--ca. 1700 BCE), Artist (Liangzhu 良渚 culture), Title, Object name, Geographical region (Lake Tai 太湖 region); plus Description per Jenny F. So and Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database.

7. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 17, 2008) Ceremonial Objects added as secondary classification.

8. (Jeffrey Smith, April 11, 2016) Transferred from Description: (Jenny So, from Jade Project Database) Bright blue-green, tan, brown. Biconical hole, slightly off-center, ridge at meeting point. Evenly round and thick. Vertical outer wall slightly concave. Surface more altered on one face.

Chinese
Neolithic, ca. 2000 B.C.
Traditional Chekiang Provenance

Perforated disc of the type "pi;" bored from both sides leaving median ridge; richly mottled bright bluish green, golden tan and brown; cream colored fleckings of incipient disintegration, more extensive on one side; dull luster, one strata crack. Chip on rim. Box.

Published References

J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
You Xiaoxi. Description of antique Chinese paintings and brass wares as well as of porcelains of different ages, The Charles Lang Freer papers., 1919. No. 66, p. 51, 64.

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.

Save this image | Terms of use

Disk (bi 璧)

Related Objects

Related Media

Web Resources