Liangzhu culture, ca. 3300-ca. 2250 BCE Search this
Type:
Ceremonial Object
Origin:
Lake Tai region, China
Date:
ca. 3300-2250 BCE
Period:
Late Neolithic period
Description:
Perforated disk of the type pi [bi] 璧; bored mostly from one side leaving slight ridge; mottled shades of light to dark olive and blue greens, with delicate veinings of golden brown on one surface only; surface satin smooth with several circular saw marks on one side; traces of earth incrustation in slight cracks. (Rim chipped in two areas.)
Acquired with a box, now lost.
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. 1170, pg. 269, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
[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:
Afterlife: Ancient Chinese Jades (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)
Ancient Chinese Jades and Bronzes (November 20, 2010 to January 3, 2016)
Ancient Chinese Jade (September 4, 1980 to March 6, 1981)
Chinese Art (January 1, 1963 to March 6, 1981)
Previous custodian or owner:
Li Wenqing 李文卿 (ca. 1869-1931) (C.L. Freer source)
