Disk (bi 璧) with incised glyph and decorated edge
![Detail of a pattern](https://asia.si.edu/wp-content/themes/custom/nmaa/nmaa-frontend/public/images/hero-bkgrnd-desktop.jpg)
Terms of Use
Creative CommonsAt A Glance
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Period
ca. 3300-2250 BCE -
Geography
Lake Tai region, China -
Material
Jade (nephrite) -
Dimension
Diam x D: 23.6 x 1.4 cm (9 1/4 x 9/16 in) -
Accession Number
F1917.348 -
EDAN ID
edanmdm:fsg_F1917.348
Object Details
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Description
Perforated disk of the type pi [bi] 璧; bored from both sides, leaving rough median ridge; darkly mottled green and golden brown; bluish-gray frosting and veins of incipient disintegration; scattered granular pittings; decoration: lightly incised, a device on obverse, birds, arrows and geometric pattern around outer rim.Acquired with a box, now lost. -
Provenance
Reportedly excavated in Anki in Chekiang province [1]To 1917You Xiaoxi (late 19th-early 20th century), Shanghai, to 1917 [2]From 1917 to 1919Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from You Xiaoxi, in New York, in 1917 [3]From 1920Freer 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. 1288, pg. 288, 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. -
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)Studies in Connoisseurship 1923-1983 (September 23, 1983 to March 1, 1984)Ancient Chinese Jade (September 4, 1980 to March 6, 1981)Special Exhibition, Chinese Art, 1946 (August 7, 1946 to January 7, 1947)Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Art, 1944 (November 15, 1944 to May 6, 1946)Untitled Exhibition, Ancient Chinese Art, 1944 (December 13, 1944 to May 7, 1946)Untitled Exhibition, Ancient Chinese Art, 1943 (March 22, 1943 to November 17, 1944)Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Metalwork (March 14, 1931 to March 22, 1943) -
Previous custodian or owner
You Xiaoxi 游篠溪 (late 19th-early 20th century) (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 -
On View
Freer Gallery 19: Afterlife: Ancient Chinese Jades -
Restrictions and Rights
CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)
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