Head ornament with geometric decoration

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 dynasty.

4. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is approximately 2.943. Decomposition and presence of earth incrustation prevents accurate figure.

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

6. (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. 94) Semicircular openwork frames provide supports for the evenly-spaced teeth of the combs. Composed of fluted  outer bands and symmetrical foliate designs, the frames, which are embellished on both sides, reflect the degree  of luxury attained by the nobility during the Warring States period. The relatively small size and elaborate  decoration of these jade combs suggest that they might also have served as hair ornaments.

Umehara Sueji 梅原末治 illustrates the Freer combs in Rakuyō Kinson kobo shūei 洛陽金村古墓聚英, thereby suggesting that they  were found at Chin ts'un [Jincun] 金村 near Loyang [Luoyang] 洛陽, Honan [Henan] 河南 province. [1] No archaeological evidence supports that provenance.

In ancient China, combs were made of bone, jade, stone, wood, bronze, ivory, and bamboo. Among the earliest combs still extant are two ivory examples from the late Neolithic site of Ta wen k'ou [Dawenkou] 大汶口, Shantung [Shandong] 山東 province. [2] Bone and  ivory combs were found at the Shang 商 site of Anyang 安陽, Honan [Henan] 河南 province. [3] The late Neolithic and Shang 商 examples  are more elaborate in shape and design than the two Warring States examples in the Freer collection. A number of  wooden and ivory combs found in Warring States period and Han 漢 dynasty tombs are similar to the Freer examples. [4] It appears that by the Warring States period this shape was common, although a few more elaborately  decorated examples have also been found.

[1]  Umehara Sueji 梅原末治, Rakuyō Kinson kobo shūei 洛陽金村古墓聚英 (Kyoto: Kobayashi shashin seihanjo shuppanbu, 1937), pl. 80:1--2. Alfred Salmony includes the Freer combs in Carved Jade of Ancient China (Berkeley, CA: Gillick Press, 1938), pl. 52:2--3.

[2] 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), p. 95, fig. 78, pl. 90.

[3]  Umehara Sueji 梅原末治, Inkyo 殷墟 (Tokyo: Asahi shimbunsha, 1965), pp. 84--85, pl. 140:6, fig. 36:1--4; Chung-kuo k'o-hsueh-yuan k'ao-ku yen-chiu-so Anyang kung-tso tui [Zhongguo kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo Anyang gongzuo dui] 中國科學院考古研究所安陽工作隊, "Anyang Yin-hsu wu hao mu ti fa-chueh [Anyang Yinxu wuhao mu de fajue] 安陽殷墟五號墓的發掘," K'ao-ku hsueh-pao [Kaogu xuebao] 考古學報 1977.2, 57--98, pl. 25:1; and Chung-kuo she-hui k'o-hsueh-yuan k'ao-ku yen-chiu-so [Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo] 中國社會科學院考古研究所, Yin-hsu Fu-hao mu [Yinxu Fu Hao mu] 殷墟婦好墓 (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1980), p. 149, fig. 78:3--4. For a bronze comb dating from the Shang 商 dynasty, see K'ao-ku [Kaogu] 考古 1972. 4, p. 29, fig. 3. Several Western Chou [Zhou] 周 period combs have been unearthed (see K'ao-ku [Kaogu] 考古 1978.5, pl. 2:4).

[4] Ch'u wen-wu chan-lan t'u-lu [Chu wenwu zhanlan tulu] 楚文物展覽圖錄 (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1954), p. 23, nos. 32--37; Hu-nan sheng po-wu-kuan [Hunan sheng bowuguan] 湖南省博物馆 and Chung-kuo k'o-hsueh-yuan k'ao-ku yen-chiu-so [Zhongguo kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo] 中国科学院考古研究所, Ch'ang-sha Ma-wang-tui i-hao Han mu [Changsha Mawangdui yi hao Han mu] 長沙馬王堆一號漢墓 (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1973), vol. 2, pl. 181.

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 "5th--4th  century BCE" to "475--221 BCE." Also changed Object Name from "Comb" to "Jewelry"; changed title from  "Comb" to "Headdress comb." Added Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database.

8. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 17, 2008) "Jewelry" added as secondary classification.

9. (Stephen Allee, March 23, 2009) Added designation "nephrite" to Medium as per Janet Douglas using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (January 8, 2009).

10. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, June 29, 2010) Title changed from "Headdress comb" to "Headdress."

11. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, June 28, 2022) Title changed from "Headdress" to "Head ornament with geometric decoration"; added Chinese caption; added related objects; and added Past Label Text.