Head ornament with mask

Ornament; rounded plaque with straight base; obverse slightly convex; reverse slightly concave with three double perforations; opaque, mottled cream and tans; silvery incrustation, more profuse on reverse; decoration: carved in low relief and incised, a stylized face with geometric pattern over and about it.

Acquired with a box.

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
H x W x D: 6.9 x 8 x 1 cm (2 11/16 x 3 3/16 x 3/8 in)
Geography
China, Lake Tai region, purportedly found at Xiaxi, Zhejiang province
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1916.511
On View Location
Freer Gallery 19: Afterlife: Ancient Chinese Jades
Classification(s)
Jade, Jewelry and Ornament
Type

Head ornament

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

Purportedly found at Xiaxi, Zhejiang [1]

To 1916
You Xiaoxi, (late 19th–early 20th century), Shanghai, to 1916 [2]

From 1916 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854–1919), purchased from You Xiaoxi, in New York, in 1916 [3]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [4]

Notes:

[1] According to Curatorial Remark 10, Julia K. Murray, 1982, in the object record "A review of the Original Miscellaneous List shows that this object was excavated in Hsiaki [Xiaxi] 下溪, Chekiang [Zhejiang] 浙江."

[2] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1055, p. 235, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[3] See note 2.

[4] 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
You Xiaoxi (C.L. Freer source) late 19th-early 20th century

Description

Ornament; rounded plaque with straight base; obverse slightly convex; reverse slightly concave with three double perforations; opaque, mottled cream and tans; silvery incrustation, more profuse on reverse; decoration: carved in low relief and incised, a stylized face with geometric pattern over and about it.

Acquired with a box.

Published References
  • J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
  • Na Chih-liang. Yu ch'i tz'u t'ien [Dictionary of Chinese Jade]. Taipei, 1982. vol. 2: p. 36.
  • Joan Hartman-Goldsmith. Early Chinese Jades at the Freer Gallery. vol. 27, no. 4, Winter 1981-1982. fig. 2-2a.
  • Minao Hayashi. Jade of the Liang-chu Culture. no. 360 Tokyo, March 1981. fig. 10.
  • Alfred Salmony. Carved Jade of Ancient China. Berkeley, 1938. pl. 28, no. 5.
  • You Xiaoxi, Hsiao-chi Yu in, Chi-Tseng Chang. "游筱溪." Masterpieces of Chinese National Art: The Collection of Mr. Seaouke'e Yue. Shanghai, 1916. no. 32B.
  • Julia Murray. Neolithic Chinese Jades in the Freer Gallery of Art. vol. 14, no. 11 Hong Kong, November 1983. p. 18.
  • Elizabeth Childs-Johnson. Dragons, Masks, Axes and Blades from Four Newly-documented Jade-producing Cultures of Ancient China. vol. 19, no. 4 Hong Kong, 1988. p. 35, fig. 18.
  • Doris J. Dohrenwend. Jade Demonic Images from Early China. vol. 10 Washington and Ann Arbor, 1975. pp. 55-78, fig. 46.
  • Elizabeth Childs-Johnson, Fang Gu. Yuqi shidai: Meiguo bowuguan cang Zhongguo zaoqi yuqi [The Jade Age: Early Chinese Jades in American Museums]. Beijing, 2009. p. 61.
  • Mary Belle O' Brien. Iconic Images and Jade Textile Tools for Neolithic and Bronze Age China's Silk Industry., July 2009. p. 181, fig. 1a.
  • Thomas Lawton, Linda Merrill. Freer: a legacy of art. Washington and New York, 1993. p. 205, fig. 139.
  • Minao Hayashi. Chūgoku kogyoku no kenkyū. Tokyo, 1991. p. 289, fig. 4: 48.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Jades for Life and Death
Google Cultural Institute
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