Disk (bi 璧)

Object Details

• Description

  Perforated disk of the type pi [bi] 璧; bored from both sides; darkly mottled brown and olive green with reddish and yellow tints; irregular in thickness and circumference, unevenly cut leaving saw marks. (Three damaged areas on rim.)

• Provenance

  To 1915

  Yamanaka & Company, New York to 1915 [1]

  From 1915 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company, New York in 1915 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] Undated folder sheet note. See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 549, pg. 155, 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.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Yamanaka and Co. 山中商会 (1917-1965) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Lake Tai region, China

• Culture

  Liangzhu culture, ca. 3300-ca. 2250 BCE

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Ceremonial Object

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  BCE 3000s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Yamanaka and Co.

• Place

  Lake Tai region, China

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Late Neolithic period (ca. 5000 - ca. 1700 BCE), Chinese Art, Nephrite, Jade

• Culture

  Chinese, Liangzhu culture

• Object Type

  Ceremonial objects