Notched disk
date: label: Date
content: ca. 1600-ca. 1050 BCE
label: Period
content: Shang dynasty
notes: label: Description
content: Disk marked by three sweeping arcs with a coordinated pattern of serrated fins; inscribed straight lines perpendicular to one another on one face; opaque creamy gray-green with green and black inclusions. (One light crack runs from the perimeter to the hole.)
label: Inscriptions
content: On edge of object: D.W. 34/115, written in black paint.
label: Provenance
content: 1934-1952
label: Provenance
content: David David-Weill (1871-1952), Paris, France purchased in 1934 [1]
label: Provenance
content: 1952-2015
label: Provenance
content: Descendants of David David-Weill by inheritance [2]
label: Provenance
content: 2015
label: Provenance
content: Sale, Sotheby's, Paris, Trésors de la Chine ancienne de la collection David David-Weill, December 16, 2015, lot 24 [3]
label: Provenance
content: 2015-2017
label: Provenance
content: Eskenazi Ltd., London, United Kingdom, purchased at the 2015 Sotheby's, London sale [4]
label: Provenance
content: From 2017
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Eskenazi Ltd., London, United Kingdom [5]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] David David-Weill's collection number—D.W. 34/115—remains on the side of the object. This was the 115th object David David-Weill acquired in 1934. He likely purchased this notched disk through "the Karlbeck Syndicate," a network of museums and private collectors organized by Ovar Karlbeck, which he joined in 1939.
label: Provenance
content: David-Weill had the object in his collection at the time of his death in 1952.
label: Provenance
content: His family sold his collection in a series of auctions, beginning in 1959.
label: Provenance
content: David David-Weill was a Jewish, American-born French banker and chairman of Lazard Frères, his family's bank headquartered in Paris. He was president of the council of French National Museums from 1925 to 1939 and the vice president of the Friends of the Louvre until 1938. David-Weill was a life-long, prolific collector, acquiring a broad range of objects including French 18th-century art, ancient Chinese bronzes, jades, and silvers, and European cloisonné. During World War 2, Nazis plundered his collection and seized over 2000 objects, most of which were restituted after the War. The parts of David-Weill's collection that were not seized by Nazis were hidden and protected. It is unclear if this object was ever in Nazi possession. If it was, it was returned to David-Weill after the war, as this object was in his family's possession through 2015.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See note 3.
label: Provenance
content: [3] Sale, Sotheby's, Paris, Trésors de la Chine ancienne de la collection David David-Weill, December 16, 2015, lot 24 (illustrated).
label: Provenance
content: [4] See Eskenazi Ltd. documentation, copy in object file.
label: Provenance
content: [5] See note 4 and receipt from Eskenazi to Freer Gallery of Art, copy in object file.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Afterlife: Ancient Chinese Jades (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)
label: Exhibition History
content: Early Chinese Art from Private Collections (November 3 to 25, 2016)
label: Exhibition History
content: Arts de la Chine Ancienne (1937)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: David David-Weill (1871-1952)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: David-Weill Family
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Eskenazi Ltd. (founded 1923)
place: label: Origin
content: probably Henan province, China
topic: label: Topic
content: serpentine (mineral)
label: Topic
content: jade
label: Topic
content: Shang dynasty (ca. 1600 - ca. 1050 BCE)
label: Topic
content: China
label: Topic
content: Chinese Art
setName: label: On View
content: West Building (Freer Gallery of Art), East Corridor: Looking Out, Looking In: The Art of Late Imperial China
label: Related Online Resources
content: Jades for Life and Death
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Purchase — funds provided by Charles Lang Freer Endowment, Lois S. Raphling, and the Sylvia and Alexander Hassan Family Foundation
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F2017.5a-c
objectType: label: Type
content: Ceremonial Object
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Jade (serpentine)
label: Dimensions
content: Diam x D: 33.3 × 0.8 cm (13 1/8 × 5/16 in)
label: Dimensions
content: Diam (hole): 11.4 cm (4 1/2 in)