Disk (bi 璧)

Perforated disk of the type pi [bi] 璧; bored conically leaving ridge near edge; mottled rich greens with brown veins and silvery strata; some areas of white disintegration on obverse, more plentiful on reverse; proportions irregular. (Rim slightly chipped and one break.)

Acquired with a box, now lost.

Maker(s)
Artist: Liangzhu culture 良渚 (ca. 3300-ca. 2250 BCE)
Historical period(s)
Late Neolithic period, ca. 3300-2250 BCE
Medium
Jade (nephrite)
Dimensions
Diam x D: 21.9 x 1.6 cm (8 5/8 x 5/8 in) Diam (hole): 4.7 cm (1 7/8 in)
Geography
China, Lake Tai region
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1916.380
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceremonial Object, Jade
Type

Ceremonial object: disk (bi)

Keywords
China, Late Neolithic period (ca. 5000 - ca. 1700 BCE)
Provenance

To 1916
Wang Jiantang, Shanghai to 1916 [1]

From 1916 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Wang Jiantang in 1916 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1020, pg. 222, 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) and Custodian(s)

Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919
Wang Jiantang (C.L. Freer source) late 19th-early 20th century

Description

Perforated disk of the type pi [bi] 璧; bored conically leaving ridge near edge; mottled rich greens with brown veins and silvery strata; some areas of white disintegration on obverse, more plentiful on reverse; proportions irregular. (Rim slightly chipped and one break.)

Acquired with a box, now lost.

Published References
  • J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
  • Geoffrey WIlls. Jade of the East., 1st ed. New York, 1972. fig. 11.
  • Julia Murray. Neolithic Chinese Jades in the Freer Gallery of Art. vol. 14, no. 11 Hong Kong, November 1983. p. 15, fig. 1.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Jades for Life and Death
Google Cultural Institute
CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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