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 from both sides, leaving median ridge; obverse is mottled medium to very dark green with traces of brown, about half the surface is clouded with gray incipient disintegration, reverse is completely but thinly covered with the same; some saw marks on each surface. (Several chipped areas on rim.)
Acquired with a box, now lost.
Provenance:
Reportedly excavated in Lo-yang, Honan [1]
Duanfang (1861-1911) [2]
To 1919
You Xiaoxi (late 19th-early 20th century), Shanghai to 1919 [3]
1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from You Xiaoxi, in New York in 1919 [4]
From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [5]
Notes:
[1] According to Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record: "Formerly in the collection of the Viceroy Tuan Fang, and said to have been excavated at Lo-yang, Honan."
[2] See note 1.
[3] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1404, pg. 329, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
[4] See note 3.
[5] 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
Previous custodian or owner:
Duanfang 端方 (1861-1911)
You Xiaoxi 游篠溪 (late 19th-early 20th century) (C.L. Freer source)
