Large Ceremonial Jade Object, Perhaps a Headdress

Gallery Text

Before the advent of metallurgy, numerous Neolithic cultures — which relied primarily upon stone tools, farming, domesticated animals, and pottery making — were scattered throughout vast regions of China. The cultures that produced the most remarkable earthenware (ceramics fired up to about 1000° C) tended to inhabit areas along China’s major rivers, and by the late Neolithic period (c. 5000–c. 2000 BCE), two notable ceramic types distinguished themselves from coarser utilitarian pottery — painted earthenware from settlements along the upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River, and black pottery from cultures near the lower Yellow and Yangzi River valleys. Painted ceramics were hand-built, made of fine reddish or buff clays, and embellished with dark slip (liquid clay) to create vibrant, mostly abstract designs. Black pottery vessels were wheel-thrown, sometimes to the thinness of an eggshell, blackened during the firing process, and burnished to a high gloss. These delicate objects were impractical for daily use and were likely used for ceremonial purposes. Several Neolithic cultures also fashioned beautiful jades or hard stones — usually nephrite, an extremely hard mineral native to China — into ceremonial tools and weapons, ritual objects, or items of personal adornment. These jades were sliced, shaped, perforated, incised, and polished using non-metallic tools and abrasive crystals of even greater hardness than the jade itself, a painstakingly labor-intensive process that only the privileged could afford.

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 1943.50.628
Title: Large Ceremonial Jade Object, Perhaps a Headdress
Classification: Ritual Implements
Work Type: tube
Date: c. 4700 - c. 2920 BCE
Places: Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period: Neolithic period, Hongshan culture, c. 4500-3000 BCE
Culture: Chinese
Persistent Link: https://hvrd.art/o/204580

Location

Location: Level 1, Room 1740, Early Chinese Art, Arts of Ancient China from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age

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Physical Descriptions

Medium: Mottled green, bluish green, and buff nephrite
Dimensions: H. 18.9 x W. 14 x D. 9.5 x Thickness 0.7 cm (7 7/16 x 5 1/2 x 3 3/4 x 1/4 in.)
Weight 1034 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. 324 by Max Loehr:

324 Large Ceremonial Cuff(?)
Mottled green, bluish green, and buff jade; traces of earth adhering to the surface. The shape is similar to No. 323, but the slant of the wider, upper rim is moderate, while the narrower bottom rim is even. At the back, adjoining the upper rim are four concentric ridges, each forming half an ellipse. The outer surface is smooth but not glossy; the inner wall is less carefully finished. Western Chou(?).

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

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

Accession Year

1943

Object Number

1943.50.628

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

Dorothy W. Gillerman, ed., Grenville L. Winthrop: Retrospective for a Collector, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, 1969), no. 014, pp. 14-15
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. 324, p. 217

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

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1943.50.628: Large Ceremonial Jade Object, Perhaps a Headdress