Disk (bi 璧)

Perforated disk of the type pi [bi] 璧; bored from both sides, leaving pronounced median ridge; mottled light to medium olive greens and some reddish brown and slate-colored areas; partially covered on both sides with a silvery film of incipient disintegration; roughly cut saw marks on both sides; uneven in thickness. (Rim chipped and broken, numerous fissures and rough areas.)

Maker(s)
Artist: Liangzhu culture 良渚 (ca. 3300-ca. 2250 BCE)
Historical period(s)
Late Neolithic period, ca. 3300-2250 BCE
Medium
Jade (nephrite)
Dimensions
Diam x D: 18.7 x 1.3 cm (7 3/8 x 1/2 in) Diam (hole): 4.6 cm (1 13/16 in)
Geography
China, Lake Tai region
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1917.19
On View Location
Freer Gallery 19: Afterlife: Ancient Chinese Jades
Classification(s)
Ceremonial Object, Jade
Type

Ceremonial object: disk (bi)

Keywords
China, Late Neolithic period (ca. 5000 - ca. 1700 BCE), nephrite
Provenance

To 1917
Li Wenqing (late 19th-early 20th century), Shanghai, to 1917 [1]

From 1917 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Li Wenqing, in 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. 1108, pg. 246, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. See also, Voucher No. 18, December 1916.

[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.

Previous Owner(s)

Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919
Li Wenqing (C.L. Freer source) ca. 1869-1931

Description

Perforated disk of the type pi [bi] 璧; bored from both sides, leaving pronounced median ridge; mottled light to medium olive greens and some reddish brown and slate-colored areas; partially covered on both sides with a silvery film of incipient disintegration; roughly cut saw marks on both sides; uneven in thickness. (Rim chipped and broken, numerous fissures and rough areas.)

Published References
  • Elizabeth Childs-Johnson, Fang Gu. Yuqi shidai: Meiguo bowuguan cang Zhongguo zaoqi yuqi [The Jade Age: Early Chinese Jades in American Museums]. Beijing, 2009. pp. 72-73.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Jades for Life and Death
Google Cultural Institute
CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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