1943.50.444.B: Jade Dragon Silhouette (one of a pair)
Ritual ImplementsIdentification and Creation
- Object Number
- 1943.50.444.B
- Title
- Jade Dragon Silhouette (one of a pair)
- Classification
- Ritual Implements
- Work Type
- ornament
- Date
- 475 BCE - 221 BCE
- Places
- Creation Place: East Asia, China
- Period
- Zhou dynasty, Warring States period, 475-221 BCE
- Culture
- Chinese
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/204685
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Bluish green and buff, partly discolored nephrite
- Dimensions
-
11.9 x 6.4 x 0.3 cm (4 11/16 x 2 1/2 x 1/8 in.)
unspecified: 47 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. 419 by Max Loehr:
419 Pair of Dragon Silhouettes
Bluish green and buff, partly discolored jade slabs, cut into two virtually identical silhouettes of flamboyantly curvilinear dragons. The heads are characterized by upcurled muzzles, short, curved lower jaws, and forward-bent, grooved horns or crests; there is no indication of the eyes. The bodies widen below the neck, then gradually narrow toward the tail. Their contours are enlivened by rhythmically designed appendages, which might be read as wings or claws; some of the appendages which link one part to another serve to lessen the fragility of these complicated openwork forms. The bodies of the dragons are covered with spiral curls in low relief. They are perforated near the lowermost part of the bodies. Late Eastern Chou.
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
- Accession Year
- 1943
- Object Number
- 1943.50.444.B
- 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 (Cambridge, MA, Fogg Art Museum, 1975)., cat. no. 419b, p. 288
Verification Level
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