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Polished gray jade spear tip in a bronze shaft with turquoise inlay

Gray-green jade has been carved to a long oval blade that tapers to a sharp point at the tip. The sharp sides slope outward slightly, going down from the tip before curving in again at the base. The blade is set into a metal socket that is has a mosaic of small turquoise pieces inlaid. The top of the socket that meets the blade is an upside down heart shape, its turquoise set in the shape of a stylized face with spiral eyes. The turquoise on the shaft of the socket is set in a herringbone pattern, ending in lateral rings that circle the base.

Gallery Text

A highly religious and ritualistic society, the Shang established their dynastic kingdom in northern China around 1600 BCE. Their king served as the intermediary between his subjects, a powerful god known as Shang Di, and deceased ancestors that the Shang believed could intercede on their behalf. The extraordinary emphasis placed on ancestor worship and state ritual during the Shang dynasty necessitated the production of massive numbers of bronze vessels and ceremonial weapons. Specific types of bronze vessels for cooking, warming, or serving sacrificial offerings of food and wine were required for ceremonies designed to feed and appease ancestral spirits. Like their ceramic prototypes, bronze legged vessels could be placed over a fire for heating. Covered vessels protected their contents from spills or contamination. Ceremonial weaponry, such as the jade blades with turquoise-inlaid bronze hafts displayed here, were an important part of state regalia, as Shang rulers owed their domination over neighboring societies to their military prowess. Ritual bronzes and weapons were essential burial objects, for they represented the power and authority that the deceased intended to take with him into the afterlife.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.51.1
Title
Jade Spearhead in a Bronze Socket
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
spearhead
Date
12th-11th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Shang dynasty, c. 1600-c. 1050 BCE
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/204587

Location

Location
Level 1, Room 1740, Early Chinese Art, Arts of Ancient China from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Gray-green nephrite blade; bronze socket inlaid with turquoise
Technique
Inlaid
Dimensions
L. 20.8 x W. 4.8 x Thickness 0.5 cm (8 3/16 x 1 7/8 x 3/16 in.)
Weight: 116 g

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Grenville L. Winthrop, New York (by 1943), bequest; to Fogg Art Museum, 1943.

Published Text

Catalogue
Ancient Chinese Jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University
Authors
Max Loehr and Louisa G. Fitzgerald Huber
Publisher
Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1975)

Catalogue entry no. 83 by Max Loehr:

83 Jade Spearhead in a Bronze Socket
Leaf-shaped, crested blade with sloping, sharp edges, wrought of an even gray-green jade with sparse blackish and purplish markings; two strips of an earthy deposit on one face. The blade is inserted into the heart-shaped head of the tubular, slightly tapering bronze socket. The socket is decorated with an inlay of densely placed turquoise particles held by cloisons. An animal mask fills the head, while a steep zigzag pattern with a horizontal border covers the surface of the tubular extension below. The designs of the inlay are unmarred by bronze oxide. Shang.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.51.1
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Dorothy W. Gillerman, ed., Grenville L. Winthrop: Retrospective for a Collector, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, 1969), no. 043, pp. 44-45
  • Takayasu Higuchi, ed., Chugoku bijutsu, dai 4-kan (Chinese Art in Western Collections vol. 4: Bronze and Jade), Kodansha (Tokyo, Japan, 1973), pl. 89 (right)
  • Max Loehr and Louisa G. Fitzgerald Huber, Ancient Chinese Jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1975), cat. no. 83, p. 82

Exhibition History

  • S427: Ancient Chinese Bronzes and Jades, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 10/20/1985 - 04/30/2008
  • Re-View: S228-230 Arts of Asia, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 05/31/2008 - 06/01/2013
  • 32Q: 1740 Early China I, Harvard Art Museums, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu