H x W x D: 18 × 2.3 × 0.8 cm (7 1/16 × 7/8 × 5/16 in)
Type:
Ceremonial Object
Origin:
Anyang, probably Henan province, China
Date:
ca. 1250-ca. 1050 BCE
Period:
Late Shang dynasty, Anyang period
Description:
Handle; dagger shaped; semitranslucent, cream white with gray areas on one side; slight earth incrustations; decoration: incised lines. (End broken and cracked.)
Acquired with a box, now lost.
Provenance:
To 1915
Abel William Bahr (1877-1959), Shanghai, China, London, England, Montreal, Canada, New York, New York, and Ridgefield, Connecticut to 1915 [1]
From 1915 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Abel William Bahr in 1915 [2]
From 1920
The Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
Notes:
[1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 761, pg. 168, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Abel William Bahr (1877-1959) was a collector and dealer born in Shanghai, China. After he left Shanghai in 1910, he lived, at various points in time, in London, Montreal, and Ridgefield, Connecticut. He established a gallery in New York City in 1920.
[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.
Collection:
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Exhibition History:
Anyang: China's Ancient City of Kings (February 25, 2023 to April 28, 2024)
Ancient Chinese Jade (September 4, 1980 to March 6, 1981)
Previous custodian or owner:
Abel William Bahr (1877-1959) (C.L. Freer source)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
Topic:
Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty (ca. 1300 - 1050 BCE) Search this
