Finial in the form of a bird

Object Details

• Description

  Flat, arc-shaped pendant with a bird presented in profile. A series of regularly incised lines and serrations embellish the angular crest that rises from the bird’s head. Those angular forms are echoed in the chevrons on the hooked beak. A bolder series of lines, some of them raised, articulate the furled wing and pendant tail. (Mostly calcified; cinnabar deposits; pencil [?] marks on top side.)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Abel William Bahr (1877-1959)

  Edna H. Bahr (died 1978)

  Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

• 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), United States and England, acquired 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 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 #411:

  "Profile bird-high crest. Cream-cinnabar," on list provided by the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, October 9, 2009, copy in object file.

  [3] Pursuant to the agreement between 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.

• 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, Chinese Art, Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty (ca. 1300 - 1050 BCE), Birds

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Ornaments, Jewelry