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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.51.2
Title
Jade Spearhead in a Bronze Socket
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
spearhead
Date
12th cent. BCE - 11th cent. BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Shang dynasty, c. 1600-c. 1050 BCE
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/204588

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Nephrite blade; bronze socket inlaid with turquoise
Technique
Inlaid
Dimensions
24.8 x 5.8 x 0.5 cm (9 3/4 x 2 5/16 x 3/16 in.)
unspecified: 229 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. 85 by Max Loehr:

85 Jade Spearhead in a Bronze Socket
The blade of this object is the fore part of a ko or dagger-axe, shortened and mounted into the slot of a bronze socket with a heart-shaped head. Features such as a bent median ridge and outcurving lateral facets, as well the obviously ground-off base, make it certain that this blade is of a type different from the leaf-shaped blades, Nos. 82, 83, 84. The socket, which is heavier than in any of the preceding examples, is entirely covered with turquoise; the indistinctness of the inlay pattern is caused by the lack of cloisons. Shang.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.51.2
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, Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1975), cat. no. 85, p. 83

Related Works

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