Disk (bi 璧)

Disk with biconical central hole; green brown mottled with some crystalline flakes, uneven surface and pitted. Seven chips on outside rim, three small holes on surface, and three indentations on surface; surface rough and degraded on both sides.

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: 17.5 x 1 cm (6 7/8 x 3/8 in)
Geography
China, Lake Tai region
Credit Line
Gift of Arthur M. Sackler
Collection
Arthur M. Sackler Collection
Accession Number
S1987.929
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 1959
Abel William Bahr (1877-1959), Shanghai, China, London, England, Montreal, Canada, New York, NY, and Ridgefield, Connecticut [1]

From 1963 to 1987
Arthur M. Sackler, New York, purchased from the Bahr Collection 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 #97: "Green brown mottled with come crystalline flakes. Uneven surface and pitted. Disk with centre hole. Modern cord for suspension. Jade?" 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)

Abel William Bahr 1877-1959
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler 1913-1987

Description

Disk with biconical central hole; green brown mottled with some crystalline flakes, uneven surface and pitted. Seven chips on outside rim, three small holes on surface, and three indentations on surface; surface rough and degraded on both sides.

Published References
  • J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
  • David Summers. Real Spaces: World Art History and the Rise of Western Modernism. New York, 2003. p. 116, fig. 39.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Jades for Life and Death
Google Cultural Institute
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