Object: Pendant in the form of a bird S1987.590

Classification: Jewelry and Ornament

Historical period(s): Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty, ca. 1300-ca.1050 BCE

Object Date: ca. 1300-ca.1050 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 2.3 x 2.7 x 1 cm (7/8 x 1 1/16 x 3/8 in)

Origin: China, probably Henan province, Anyang

Credit Line: Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

Collection: Arthur M. Sackler Collection

Accession Number: S1987.590

: 鳥形飾
晚商安陽時期（公元前1300-1050年）
中國，疑似河南安陽市
軟玉
高2.3、寬2.7、厚1釐米
亞瑟·M·賽克勒贈送
器物編號：S1987.590

Provenance: As early as 1928
Likely produced shortly after the discovery of archeological sites in Anyang, Honan Province, China [1]

To 1948
Zhang Naiji (1899–1948), Shanghai, China then New York, NY [2]

1948 to 1954
Zhang Mei Chien (1901–c.1955), New York, NY inherited upon her husband’s death [3]

1954 to 1963
J. T. Tai & Co., New York, NY purchased from ZHANG Mei Chien in July 1954 in New York, NY [4]

1963 to 1987
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, New York, NY purchased from J. T. Tai & Co. on May 15, 1963 in New York, NY [5]

From 1987
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler on September 11, 1987 [6]

Notes:

[1] Object published in Archaic Chinese Jades: Special Exhibition (Philadelphia: The University Museum, February 1940), cat. 101. Catalogue entry notes discovery site. Excavations at Anyang began in 1928. This object closely resembles the style of the Anyang Period and was likely produced shortly after the site’s discovery. Zhang purchased many of his works near or at archeological sites (see: Dr. Paul Singer, Reminiscences of a Transient Custodian, 82-83, FǀS Archives, Singer Collection).

[2] Zhang Naiji (also known as N.C. Chang) was a businessman, born to a prestigious family in Zhejiang that made their wealth in the silk and salt industries. He collected ancient Chinese art objects and Chinese coins. Zhang amassed his collection whilst living in Shanghai, before leaving for America in 1938, and acquired his objects onsite of archeological excavations (see: Alfred Salmony, Chinese Jade through the Wei Dynasty. New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1963: 115.).

Zhang lent his collection anonymously to Archaic Chinese Jades: Special Exhibition. We know his identity through letters housed in the Department of Archives, The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (see: letter, C. T. Loo to Horace Jayne, 25 October 1939 and letter, from C. T. Loo to Horace Jayne, 16 December 1939), copies in FǀS COM provenance files. The exhibition was entirely organized by C. T. Loo & Company, New York. Letters exchanged between C. T. Loo and the director of The University Museum, Mr. Horace H.F. Jayne, reveal that Zhang Naiji owned the objects and C. T. Loo & Company had the collection on consignment (see: letter, from C. T. Loo to Horace Jayne, 28 May 1939 and letter, from C. T. Loo to Horace Jayne, 23 October 1940, copies on COM provenance files). C. T. Loo & Company kept the jade collection on consignment from 1940 through Zhang’s death in 1948, inventorying the pieces with a prefix “J” and labeling each item as “Chang Collection.”

[3] Zhang Mei Chien, Zhang Naiji’s wife, assumed ownership upon his death in 1948. She sold several pieces from her husband’s collection to J. T. Tai & Company in July 1954 (for example, see J. T. Tai & Company Stock Record YT 886 and YT 895, copies in COM provenance files).

[4] J. T. Tai's stock no. YT-612, "1 jade piece," according to invoice dated 5/15/1963, information provided by the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation on October 9, 2009, a copy located in object file and in FǀS COM provenance files.

[5] See note 4.

[6] Pursuant to the agreement between Dr. Arthur M. Sackler and the Smithsonian Institution dated July 28, 1982, legal title of the donated objects was transferred to the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery on September 11, 1987.

Previous owner(s): Zhang Naiji 張乃驥 (1899-1948)
Zhang Mei Chien (1900-1998)
J. T. Tai & Co. (established in 1950)
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

Description: Pendant bird, swallow (?), carved almost in the round; pierced; translucent grayish green. (Minor deposits.)

Past label text: 1. (In Praise of Ancestors, September 28, 1987–January 5, 1989; by Thomas Lawton)

(shown with S1987.623, S1987.580, S1987.870, S1987.704, S1987.547, S1987.846, S1987.620, S1987.536, S1987.862, S1987.531, S1987.530, S1987.560, S1987.679, S1987.863, S1987.525, S1987.873, S1987.872, S1987.869, and S1987.544; additional bronzes shown in same case)

Pendant (Pei 珮)

11th century BCE

Western Zhou 周 dynasty

China

Jade

Curatorial Remarks

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

2. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, June 15, 2010) Title changed from "Pendant (pei 珮): bird" to "Pendant in the form of a bird"; Object name from "Pendant: bird" to "Jewelry."
3. (Najiba Choudhury, July 28, 2019) Title changed from "Pendant (pei) in the form of a bird" to "Pendant in the form of a bird"; Period One changed from "Western Zhou dynasty" to "Late Shang dynasty"; date changed from "11th century BCE" to "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE"; Geography changed from "China" to "China, probably Henan province, Anyang"; added Chinese caption by Jingmin Zhang; added Past Label Text from the exhibit In Praise of Ancestors, added the following to the Description field, "Pendant bird, swallow (?), carved almost in the round; pierced; translucent grayish green. (Minor deposits.)" Object Name changed from "Pendant" to "Jewelry."

Published References

J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .

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