Small Jade Water-Buffalo Head | Harvard Art Museums

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 1943.50.264
Title: Small Jade Water-Buffalo Head
Classification: Ritual Implements
Work Type: pendant
Date: 14th cent. BCE - 10th cent. BCE
Places: Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period: Shang dynasty (c. 1600-c. 1050 BCE) to Western Zhou period (c. 1050-771 BCE)
Culture: Chinese
Persistent Link: https://hvrd.art/o/204681

Physical Descriptions

Medium: Smoothly polished cream-colored nephrite
Dimensions: 3.9 x 3.1 x 1.2 cm (1 9/16 x 1 1/4 x 1/2 in.)
unspecified: 15 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. 154 by Max Loehr:

154 Small Water-Buffalo Head_
Smoothly polished cream-colored jade. Rather narrow head with accordingly close-set eyes in low relief. The ears are in high relief, and the horns, ornamented with volutes, jut out to sharp points. The back is plain with a wide groove under the jaws and a second narrow groove between the horns. Perforated at the muzzle from the front and from below. Shang or early Western Chou.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

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

Accession Year

1943

Object Number

1943.50.264

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. 154, p. 126

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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