Ornamental Jade Plaque | Harvard Art Museums

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 1943.50.383
Title: Ornamental Jade Plaque
Classification: Ritual Implements
Work Type: ornament
Date: late Western or early Eastern Zhou, c. 8th cent. BCE - c. 7th cent. BCE
Places: Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period: Zhou dynasty, c. 1050-221 BCE
Culture: Chinese
Persistent Link: https://hvrd.art/o/203367

Physical Descriptions

Medium: Warm grayish white and light brown, ,strongly translucent nephrite
Dimensions: 5.8 x 3.6 x 0.3 cm (2 5/16 x 1 7/16 x 1/8 in.)
unspecified: 11 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. 335 by Max Loehr:

335 Ornamental Plaque
A warm grayish white and light brown, strongly translucent jade plaque, apparently fashioned from the section of a broken disk. Adapted to the given contour and surface is a design—on one side only— in single and double engraved lines representing a dragon overlapped by a bird. Neither of these zoomorphs is shown complete; of the dragon we see only the head. The piece is perforated in the middle under the bird’s convolute beak. Late Western or early Eastern Chou.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

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

Accession Year

1943

Object Number

1943.50.383

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.

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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. 335, p. 222
Jessica Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections (Volume IIA), Arthur M. Sackler Foundation and Arthur M. Sackler Museum (Washington, D.C. and Cambridge, MA, 1990), p. 116, fig. 162c

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

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