Bracelet with animal heads

Object Details

• Description

  Thick ring with large perforation, possibly a bracelet; semi translucent closely mottled golden brown with traces of pale yellow-green; frosted with silvery incipient disintegration; satin smooth surface; one depressed area; smoothed chips on rim; decoration: six stylized dragon (?) heads in relief around outer edge.

  Acquired with a box, now lost.

• Provenance

  To 1917

  Tonying and Company, New York to 1917 [1]

  From 1917 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Tonying and Company, New York in 1917 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1074, pg. 239, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. By at least 1917, Tonying and Company maintained business locations in Shanghai, Beijing, Paris, London, and New York, NY.

  [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

• Exhibition History

  Afterlife: Ancient Chinese Jades (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)

  Ancient Chinese Jades and Bronzes (November 20, 2010 to January 3, 2016)

  Ancient Chinese Jades (May 9, 1993 to May 18, 1998)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Tonying and Company 通運公司 (established 1902) (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

  Jewelry and Ornament

• On View

  Freer Gallery 19: Afterlife: Ancient Chinese Jades

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  BCE 2000s, BCE 3000s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Tonying and Company

• Place

  Lake Tai region, China

• Topic

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

• Culture

  Chinese, Liangzhu culture

• Object Type

  Ornaments, Jewelry

• On View

  Yes