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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.50.457
Title
Composite Jade Belt Hook
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
ornament
Date
4th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Zhou dynasty, Warring States period, 475-221 BCE
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/204775

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Seven sections of variegated pale green, bluish, and dark russet nephrite, held together by an iron core.
Dimensions
L. 14.7 x W. 2.9 cm (5 13/16 x 1 1/8 in.)
unspecified: 109 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. 472 by Max Loehr:

472 Composite Belt Hook
The body of this exquisitely carved piece consists of seven sections, held together by an iron core the penetrates these sections. Variegated pale green, bluish, and dark russet jade. Traces of iron rust at some of the joints. The top section, forming the hook proper, ends in a slender dragon head, which is boldly modeled and executed with great precision. The next section is a narrow, smooth band with short, upcurved, sharp-edged lateral extensions. The following three sections are decorated with symmetrically laid-out hook designs and fine, incised circles; these sections consist of two longer pieces and a narrow band with smooth lateral extensions between them. Another narrow, plain band follows, which again has the lateral extensions. The last section represents a broad feline head with large eyes, which is monumental in design and flawlessly executed. The juxtaposition of this head and the flanged band above it seems rather disturbing, as if an intermediate section—in tune with the spacing of the preceding parts—were missing. An oval button, placed transversally, forms part of the narrow section in the middle; its surface is decorated with an incised whorl patter surrounding a tiny, cross-hatched center field. 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
1943.50.457
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. 472, p. 322
  • Jenny So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2019), pp. 39-40, fig. 2.15a-b
  • Katherine Eremin, Angela Chang, and Ariel O'Connor, Jade in the Lab, Early Chinese jades in the Harvard Art Museums, Harvard Art Museum (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2019), Pages 28-47, Figure 2.15a-b, Page 40

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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