Straight chisel (<em>gui</em>圭) with face and bird
date: label: Date
content: ca. 3000-ca. 1700 BCE
label: Period
content: Late Neolithic period
notes: label: Description
content: Ceremonial implement of the type kuei [gui 圭]; short narrow form with beveled end and perforated handle; mottled dark olive brown, reddish brown, olive green, and orange; decoration: in sensible relief and channeled, a demon head on one side, a spread eagle on reverse, triple grooves across handle; dull luster.
label: Label
content: Prolonged handling or aggressive cleaning long ago probably wore away the fine thread relief decoration of a human face on the front and a heraldic bird in profile on the reverse of this gui. These motifs and their rendering link this chisel to the late phase of the Longshan culture.
label: Provenance
content: To 1915
label: Provenance
content: Huang Zhonghui (circa 1870- after 1923), to 1915 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1915 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Huang Zhonghui, in New York, in 1915 [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 658, pg. 158, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. See also, Curatorial Remarks.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See note 1.
label: Provenance
content: [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.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Afterlife: Ancient Chinese Jades (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)
label: Exhibition History
content: Ancient Chinese Jades and Bronzes (November 20, 2010 to January 3, 2016)
label: Exhibition History
content: Ancient Chinese Jades (May 9, 1993 to May 18, 1998)
label: Exhibition History
content: Studies in Connoisseurship 1923-1983 (September 23, 1983 to March 1, 1984)
label: Exhibition History
content: Ancient Chinese Jade (September 4, 1980 to March 6, 1981)
label: Exhibition History
content: Chinese Art (January 1, 1963 to March 6, 1981)
label: Exhibition History
content: Chinese Bronze, Jade, Metalwork (March 1, 1957 to January 1, 1963)
label: Exhibition History
content: Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 14 and 15 (February 25, 1956 to March 1, 1957)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Ancient Chinese Jade and Bronze (August 26, 1955 to October 25, 1955)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Ancient Chinese Art, 1946 (May 7, 1946 to February 25, 1956)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Ancient Chinese Art, 1945 (January 9, 1945 to August 20, 1955)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Ancient Chinese Art, 1944 (December 13, 1944 to May 7, 1946)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Art, 1944 (November 15, 1944 to May 6, 1946)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Ancient Chinese Art, 1943 (March 22, 1943 to November 17, 1944)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Metalwork (March 14, 1931 to March 22, 1943)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Huang Zhonghui 黃中慧 (ca. 1870-after 1923) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: China
topic: label: Topic
content: jade
label: Topic
content: nephrite
label: Topic
content: bird
label: Topic
content: Late Neolithic period (ca. 5000 - ca. 1700 BCE)
label: Topic
content: China
label: Topic
content: Chinese Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
culture: label: Culture
content: Longshan culture, ca. 3000-ca. 1700 BCE
setName: label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
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: Gift of Charles Lang Freer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1915.87
objectType: label: Type
content: Ceremonial Object
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Jade (nephrite)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 18.3 x 3.4 x 0.8 cm (7 3/16 x 1 5/16 x 5/16 in)