Disk (bi 璧) with incised glyph and decorated edge

Detail of a pattern
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At A Glance

On View
  • 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

  • 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 1917
    You Xiaoxi (late 19th-early 20th century), Shanghai, to 1917 [2]
    From 1917 to 1919
    Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from You Xiaoxi, in New York, in 1917 [3]
    From 1920
    Freer 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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