Pendants, beads, and gold chain

1. From original Folder Sheet note: Late Eastern Chou [Zhou] 周.

Bought from C. T. Loo, New York, NY. For price, see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase  List After 1920.

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Han 漢 dynasty.

3. (John Ellerton Lodge, 1939) 3rd century BCE or earlier; late Chou [Zhou] 周.

4. (Julia K. Murray, 1980) Exhibition Ancient Chinese Jade label text; moved to label field.

5. (Thomas Lawton, 1982) Changed date from "5th--3rd century BCE" to "5th--4th century BCE."

(Thomas Lawton, Chinese Art of the Warring States Period: Change and Continuity, 480--222 B.C. [Washington, DC: Freer Gallery of Art, 1982], cat. no. 77) The ten jade pieces and gold wire chain are said to have been unearthed at Chin ts'un [Jincun] 金村, near Loyang [Luoyang] 洛陽, Honan [Henan] 河南 province. [1] In a photograph published by Umehara Sueji 梅原末治, the pectoral consists of only eight pieces of jade, which are arranged in a  grouping different from the present arrangement. [2] The clandestine nature of Chin ts'un [Jincun] 金村 finds helps to explain why  so much uncertainty attends the objects associated with the site. The present arrangement of the jade pieces and gold chain, however, seems more reasonable than that shown in the earlier photograph.

The shapes of many jade pieces associated with the Chin ts'un [Jincun] 金村 finds are conceived as elegant silhouettes, the individual forms balancing realism and abstraction. The symmetrically paired dancing figures and curving dragon  pendants are excellent examples of that balance. The dancers' long flowing sleeves, sashes, and skirts verge on complete freedom, with only the simply modeled faces identifying the forms as human figures. Similarly, the heads and front paws of the curling dragons emerge from bands decorated with a regular pattern of curls. Six geometric jade pieces complete the ensemble. [3]

The gold chain is fashioned of separate links, which apparently were made of wire and welded closed. Each link encloses two others. A necklace in the Singer Collection, with jade and amber beads joined on a gold chain, is also said to have been found at Chin ts'un [Jincun] 金村. [4] Included in a Hsiung nu [Xiongnu] 匈奴 hoard of more than two hundred gold and silver objects found in Inner Mongolia and dated to the Spring and Autumn Warring States periods is a similar chain made of braided gold wire. [5]

In recent years, a number of assemblages have been unearthed in tombs dating from the late Spring and Autumn Warring States periods. Several jade and crystal examples were found in 1971--72 in tombs from the state of Ch'i [Qi] 齊 at Lang chia chuang [Langjiazhuang] 朗家莊, Shantung [Shandong] 山東 province. [6] The assemblages are noteworthy for the many circular discs, which, had they been found separately, might have been identified as bracelets. A cemetery at Shang ts'un ling [Shangcunling] 上村嶺, Honan [Henan] 河南 province, in the state of Kuo [Guo] 虢, yielded several jade necklaces. On the basis of the find, the shield shaped jade pieces can be dated prior to 655 BCE. [7] Three assemblages were found in an Eastern Chou [Zhou] 周 tomb M2717 at Chung chou lu [Zhongzhoulu] 中州路, Honan [Henan] 河南 province. [8] Not one of those assemblages is comparable in style or elegance  to the Freer pectoral.

[1]  William Charles White, Tombs of Old Lo Yang: A Record of the Construction and Contents of a Group of Royal Tombs at Chin ts'un, Probably Dating to 550 B.C. (Shanghai: Kelly and Walsh Limited, 1934), pl. 125.

[2] Umehara Sueji 梅原末治, Rakuyō Kinson kobo shūei 洛陽金村古墓聚英 (Kyoto: Kobayashi shashin seihanjo shuppanbu, 1937), p. 47, fig. 20.

[3] The Freer pectoral has been illustrated and discussed by many scholars. Among the most important of those presentations are Alfred Salmony, Carved Jade of Ancient China (Berkeley, CA: Gillick Press, 1938), pls. 50:1, 51:1, and 52:1; Osvald Siren, Kinas Konst under tre Artusenden, vol. 1 (Stockholm: Natur och kultur, 1942) , pls. 56, 121, fig. 85; Umehara Sueji 梅原末治, Shina kogyoku zuroku 支那古玉圖錄 (Kyoto: Kuwana bunseidō, 1955), pl. 87; Mizuno, Seiichi 水野清一, In Shū seidōki to tama 殷周青銅器と玉 (Tokyo: Nihon Keizai shimbunsha, 1959), fig. 72; William Watson, Early Civilization in China (London: Thames and Hudson, 1966), p. 123; S. Howard Hansford, Chinese Carved Jades (London: Faber, 1968), pl. 34; Doris J. Dohrenwend, "Jade Demonic Images from Early China," Ars Orientalis 10 (1975), fig. 75.

[4] Max Loehr, Relics of Ancient China, from the Collection of Dr. Paul Singer (New York: Asia Society, 1965) p. 74.

[5] T'ien Kuang-chin [Tian Guangjin] 田廣金 and Kuo Su-hsin [Guo Suxin] 郭素新, "Nei-meng-ku A-lu-ch'ai-teng fa-hsien ti Hsiung-nu i-wu [Neimenggu Aluchaideng faxian de Xiongnu yiwu] 內蒙古阿魯柴登發現的匈奴遺物," K'ao-ku [Kaogu] 考古 1980.4, pp. 333--38, 364, pl. 12:6.

[6] K'ao-ku hsueh-pao [Kaogu xuebao] 考古學報 1977.1, pls. 13--15.

[7] Chung-kuo k'o-hsueh-yuan k'ao-ku yen-chiu-so [Zhongguo kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo] 中國科學院考古研究所, ed., Shang-ts'un-ling Kuo kuo mu-ti [Shangcunling Guo guo mudi] 上村嶺虢囯墓地 (Beijing: Kexue chubanshe, 1959), color pl. 1, pls. 24--25.

[8] Chung-kuo k'o-hsueh-yuan k'ao-ku yen-chiu-so [Zhongguo kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo] 中國科學院考古研究所, Lo-yang Chung-chou-lu [Luoyang Zhongzhoulu] 洛陽中州路 (Beijing: Kexue chubanshe, 1959), pp. 119--20, pl. 71:1--3.

6. (Jenny F. So, January 1996) "5th--4th century BCE" changed to "3rd century BCE." "Ornament" changed to "Ornamental pendant assemblage." "Necklace" changed to "chain."

7. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, June 19, 2008) Deleted "Jincun 金村" from Artist; added "Possibly Jincun 金村, Henan 河南 province" to Geographical Location, Origin. As per Jenny F. So, Jade Project Database, changed Date from "3rd century BCE" to "475--221 BCE." Also changed Object Name from "Pendants" to "Jewelry"; changed title from "Group of ornamental pendants" to "Pectoral chain and pendants." Added designation "nephrite" to Medium as per Elizabeth West Fitzhugh, as determined by X ray diffraction (July 1980); and confirmed by Janet Douglas using infrared spectroscopy (March 1996). Added Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database.

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

9. (Provenance field, August 17, 2009) Said to have been unearthed from a tomb of the late Warring States period at Jincun 金村, Henan 河南 province.

10. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, June 10, 2010) Title changed from "Pectoral chain and pendants" to "Pectoral chain, pendants, and beads."

11. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, December 2, 2010) Title changed from "Pectoral chain, pendants, and beads" to "Pendants, beads, and gold chain"; medium changed from "Gold and jade (nephrite)" to "Jade (nephrite) and gold."

12. (Thomas Lawton, Draft entry for proposed Freer and Sackler collections handbook, August 15, 2001) Jade pectoral with gold chain Eastern Zhou 周 dynasty, Warring States period, 5th--3rd century BCE Length 40.7 cm (16 1/16 in)

These ten jade pieces and the gold wire chain are said to have been unearthed at Jincun 金村, near Luoyang 洛陽 in  Henan 河南 province. The sumptuous combination of gold and jade support the theory that the Jincun 金村tombs may have  contained the remains of Zhou 周 dynasty rulers. Many jades associated with Jincun 金村 are conceived as elegant  silhouettes, the individual forms balancing realism and abstraction. The symmetrically paired dancing figures  and curving dragon pendants of this pectoral are excellent examples of that dynamic balance. Since the gold  chain was broken when recovered from one of the tombs, there is some question regarding the original  arrangement of the individual jades.

13. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, June 28, 2022) Added related objects; added Chinese caption; and added Past Label Text.