Arc-shaped pendant (huang 璜)

Ornament: type huang 璜; small flat plaque with oval upper edge and straight base with curved notch in center; mottled pale yellow green and cream; reverse covered with white incrustation; two functional holes conically bored from both sides; irregularities in cutting, two saw marks.

Acquired with a box, now lost.

Maker(s)
Artist: Songze culture 崧澤 (ca. 4000-2500 BCE) Liangzhu culture 良渚 (ca. 3300-ca. 2250 BCE)
Historical period(s)
Late Neolithic period, ca. 3500-2700 BCE
Medium
Jade (nephrite)
Dimensions
H x W x D: 3.3 x 9.5 x 0.8 cm (1 5/16 x 3 3/4 x 5/16 in)
Geography
China, Lake Tai region
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1917.383
On View Location
Freer Gallery 19: Afterlife: Ancient Chinese Jades
Classification(s)
Jade, Jewelry and Ornament
Type

Pendant: huang

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

Reportedly excavated in Chekiang [1]

To 1917
You Xiaoxi (late 19th-early 20th century), Shanghai, to 1917 [2]

From 1917 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from You Xiaoxi in 1917 [3]

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

Notes:

[1] According to Curatorial Remark 2 in the object record.

[2] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1323, pg. 303, 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: type huang 璜; small flat plaque with oval upper edge and straight base with curved notch in center; mottled pale yellow green and cream; reverse covered with white incrustation; two functional holes conically bored from both sides; irregularities in cutting, two saw marks.

Acquired with a box, now lost.

Published References
  • J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
  • Julia Murray. Neolithic Chinese Jades in the Freer Gallery of Art. vol. 14, no. 11 Hong Kong, November 1983. p. 21.
  • 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. 63.
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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