Tablet

Handle, pierced; mottled cream and green. (Generally calcified; deposits, cinnabar.)

Historical period(s)
Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty, ca. 1250-ca. 1050 BCE
Medium
Jade (nephrite)
Dimensions
H x W x D: 12.5 × 2.2 × 0.4 cm (4 15/16 × 7/8 × 3/16 in)
Geography
China, probably Henan province, Anyang
Credit Line
Gift of Arthur M. Sackler
Collection
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Accession Number
S1987.493
On View Location
Sackler Gallery 24b: Anyang: China's Ancient City of Kings
Classification(s)
Ceremonial Object, Jade
Type

Ritual object: Tablet

Keywords
Anyang period (ca. 1300 - ca. 1050 BCE), China
Provenance

To 1959
Abel William Bahr (1877-1959), Shanghai, China, London, England, Montreal, Canada, New York, NY, and Ridgefield, Connecticut [1]

From 1959 to 1963
Edna H. Bahr (d. 1978), by descent from her father, Abel William Bahr

From 1963 to 1987
Arthur M. Sackler, New York, purchased from Edna H. Bahr in 1963 [2]

From 1987
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Arthur M. Sackler on September 11, 1987 [3]

Notes:

[1] According to information provided by the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, October 9, 2009.

[2] See #281: "mottled green and tan," on list provided by the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, October 9, 2009, copy in object file.

[3] Pursuant to the agreement between 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) and Custodian(s)

Edna H. Bahr died 1978
Abel William Bahr 1877-1959
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler 1913-1987

Description

Handle, pierced; mottled cream and green. (Generally calcified; deposits, cinnabar.)

Published References
  • J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Jades for Life and Death
Google Cultural Institute
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