Finial in the form of a bird, probably reworked from a disk (bi 璧)

Object Details

• Description

  Profile bird pendant; incised; pierced in six places; edges notched; translucent gray-green. (Minor spotty calcification; cinnabar.)

• Provenance

  To 1959

  Abel William Bahr (1877-1959), Shanghai, China, London, England, Montreal, Canada, New York, NY, and Ridgefield, Connecticut

  [1]

  From 1959 to 1963

  Edna H. Bahr (d. 1978), by descent from her father, Abel William Bahr

  From 1963 to 1987

  Arthur M. Sackler, New York, purchased from Edna H. Bahr in 1963 [2]

  From 1987

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Dr. 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 #403:

  "Bird-High cross Flat-grey green," on list provided by the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, October 9, 2009, copy in object file.

  [3] Pursuant to the agreement between Dr. 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.

• Collection

  Arthur M. Sackler Collection

• Exhibition History

  Anyang: China's Ancient City of Kings (February 25, 2023 to April 28, 2024)

  In Praise of Ancestors: Ritual Objects from China (September 28, 1987 to January 1, 1989)

  Studies in connoisseurship: Chinese paintings from the Arthur M. Sackler collection in New York and Princeton (December 8, 1973 to 1975)

  Untitled Exhibition, Princeton, 1969 (1969)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Abel William Bahr (1877-1959)

  Edna H. Bahr (1907-1986)

  Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

• Origin

  Anyang, probably Henan province, China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

• Type

  Jewelry and Ornament

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  BCE 1000s

• Name

  Sackler, Arthur M., Bahr, Abel William, Bahr, Edna H.

• Place

  China, Henan province, Anyang

• Topic

  Art, Animals, Carving, Chinese Art, Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty (ca. 1300 - 1050 BCE), Nephrite, Birds, Jade

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Ornaments, Jewelry