Jade Fish, Recarved from a Handle

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 1943.50.416
Title: Jade Fish, Recarved from a Handle
Classification: Ritual Implements
Work Type: pendant
Date: late Western Zhou (?), c. 9th cent. BCE - 771 BCE
Places: Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period: Zhou dynasty, Western Zhou period, c. 1050-771 BCE
Culture: Chinese
Persistent Link: https://hvrd.art/o/202775

Physical Descriptions

Medium: Creamy brown nephrite; traces of cinnabar
Dimensions: 8.6 x 3 x 0.3 cm (3 3/8 x 1 3/16 x 1/8 in.)
unspecified: 16 g

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. 292 by Max Loehr:

292 Fish, Recarved from a Handle
Flat plaque of creamy brown jade; traces of cinnabar. The fish has the hooked beak-mouth seen in the preceding specimen, a crescent-shaped gill, and a small paw. The tail fin flares strongly. Two thin, incised parallel lines between the fins and tail would seem to indicate that the silhouette was shaped from a flat handle, as was No. 293. There is a tiny perforation at the mouth. Late Western Chou(?).

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop

Accession Year

1943

Object Number

1943.50.416

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

THIS WORK MAY NOT BE LENT BY THE TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION TO THE HARVARD ART MUSEUMS.

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Publication History

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. 292, p. 206

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or 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

Your Collection

Log in to the Harvard Art Museums