A jade piece that is shaped into a semicircle with the center cut out. It is light green in color. There are swirling carved lines throughout the piece that make a pattern. The left and right edges of the piece are horizontal and irregularly-cut with a sm
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

The jade piece is shaped into a semicircle with the center cut out and shown lying horizontally flat. It is light green in color on a dark grey background. There are thin swirling carved lines throughout the piece that make a pattern. The left and right edges of the piece are horizontal and irregularly-cut with a small hole in each end.

Gallery Text

In the Zhou dynasty the number of jades in burial sites increased significantly, as multiple plaques and beads were sewn or strung together and draped over the face and body of the deceased. Jades in the forms of figures and animals became increasingly realistic, and surface patterns became more complex and highly decorative.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.50.601.A
Title
Jade 'Huang' Disk Segment with Notched Ends
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
pendant
Date
10th-9th century 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/204295

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
Evenly light green translucent nephrite
Dimensions
Chord 14.1 x W. 4 x Thickness 0.4 cm (5 9/16 x 1 9/16 x 3/16 in.)
Weight 61 g

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[A. W. Bahr, March 23, 1929] sold; to Grenville L. Winthrop, New York (1929-1943), 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. 325 by Max Loehr:

325 Huang, Disk Segment with Notched Ends
Fashioned of evenly light green translucent jade, the segment forms an arc of about 170 degrees. The ends are accentuated by carefully wrought notches. At either end, close to the notches, are single perforations. Both sides are decorated identically with configurations of two birds whose heads lie toward the ends and whose tails interlock in the middle. These birds, executed in sloping cuts and incised lines, are designed in long, flowing curves of an abstract nature, which closely resemble bronze decorations of Middle Western Chou date. On one side of the segment, the grooves of the décor are filled with earth and traces of cinnabar. Middle Western Chou.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.50.601.A
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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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 (Cambridge, MA, Fogg Art Museum, 1975)., cat. no. 325, pp. 218-219
  • 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. 162b
  • Jenny So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2019), pp. 178-79, 182-83, cat. 23A

Exhibition History

  • 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