Inscribed bone fragment ("oracle bone")
Object Details
- Provenance
- From 1930s to ?
- Fritz Bilfinger, purchased in China in the 1930s. [1]
- From ? to 1997
- Dr. Paul Singer (1904-1997), Summit, New Jersey, purchased from Fritz Bilfinger. [2]
- From 1997 to 1999
- In the custody of Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, DC [3]
- From 1999
- Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, Paul Singer, the AMS Foundation for the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities, and the Children of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler. [4]
- Notes:
- [1] According to Qi Wenxin, a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of History, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, “Singer acquired the oracle bones from Fritz Bilfinger, a Swiss citizen who was a representative of the Aluminum Company of Canada, while traveling in the Far East. Bilfinger purchased the oracle bones in China in the 1930s.” See “Singer Chinese Oracle Bones” document dated September 20, 2002 in the object record.
- [2] See note 1.
- [3] Between 1997 and 1999, The Dr. Paul Singer Collection of Chinese Art was in the custody of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington DC
- [4] See “The Dr. Paul Singer Collection of Chinese Art Gift Agreement” from March 1999, Collections Management Office. The object was formally accessioned into the museum’s permanent collection in 2012. See Acquisition Consideration Form, object file, Collections Management Office.
- Collection
- Arthur M. Sackler Collection
- Previous custodian or owner
- Dr. and Mrs. Fritz Bilfinger
- Dr. Paul Singer (1904-1997)
- Credit Line
- The Dr. Paul Singer Collection of Chinese Art of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; a joint gift of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, Paul Singer, the AMS Foundation for the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities, and the Children of Arthur M. Sackler
- ca. 1300-1050 BCE
- Period
- Late Shang dynasty, Anyang period
- Accession Number
- S2012.9.470
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Ceremonial Object
- Medium
- Bone
- Dimensions
- H x W x D: 13 × 7.1 × 0.8 cm (5 1/8 × 2 13/16 × 5/16 in)
- Origin
- China
- Related Online Resources
- Google Cultural Institute
- See more items in
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
- Topic
- bone
- Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty (ca. 1300 - 1050 BCE)
- China
- Chinese Art
- The Dr. Paul Singer Collection of Chinese Art of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
- oracle bone
- Record ID
- fsg_S2012.9.470
- Metadata Usage (text)
- Usage conditions apply
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ye3fbe2606f-9cb4-4577-af15-dbdcdd206b48
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