Disk, Western Han dynasty (207 BCE–8 CE). Jade, diameter 24.765 cm; thickness 0.635 cm. Museum exchange for Charles Bayly Jr. Collection, 1954.9 © Denver Art Museum 

By the Western Han dynasty, when this disk was made, Chinese fascination with jade reached an unprecedented level. Territorial expansion to the west and the establishment of the Silk Road facilitated the flow of high-quality raw jade from the Kunlun Mountains in the west to central China. Jade was not only regarded as a symbol of wealth and virtue in life, it was believed to prevent a body from decaying in the afterlife. Jade bi disks like this one, particularly those made from the white and greenish jades imported from Hetian (Khotan) in today’s Xinjiang region, were especially favored by the Han elite. These disks were placed close to the corpse and also used to decorate coffins.

Provenance : H.M. Sarkisian by 1954; Denver Art Museum by Exchange for Charles Bayly Jr. Collection, 1954.