Symmetrical shape pendant of a wide arch, somewhat flat in the middle, it curls upward on both ends.　
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

Both ends of this horizontal pendant feature dragon heads that are turned to face inward toward the center. Both heads have opened mouths with a sharp top and bottom tooth and curl under the chin, their ears are slopped back. Texture is made of small swirl-bumps throughout the body, captured by the light that gives them dimensionality and reveals the creamy jade color of the object, it has deep brown markings along the bottom edge. Small hole in center top.

Gallery Text

During the Warring States and Han periods, jades functioned not only as ritual and burial items, but also as objects of personal adornment for the living. Other luxury materials, such as gold, bronze, and glass began to be incorporated with jades with greater frequency.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.50.470
Title
Jade Openwork Plaque Terminating in Dragon Heads
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
pendant
Date
4th-3rd 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/204781

Location

Location
Level 1, Room 1740, Early Chinese Art, Arts of Ancient China from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Translucent, greenish-white nephrite with an intense russet streak on lower edge
Dimensions
H. 4.8 x W. 13.1 x Thickness 0.4 cm (1 7/8 x 5 3/16 x 3/16 in.)
Weight 47 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. 490 by Max Loehr:

490 Openwork Plaque Terminating in Dragon Heads
Translucent, greenish with jade plaque with an intense russet streak along the lower edge and with a glistening, highly polished surface. Two magnificently defined, sharp-cornered heads, with twin-curled crests emerging behind the sweep of the ears, are linked by a common, arched body. Along the lower contour of this body emerge in succession: pointed curls; clawed, sturdy legs; and larger involute shapes that meet in the center. Along the upper contour, there are two wing-like projections that curve into the open jaws of the dragons. The body proper is covered with evenly spaced plastic spirals, while the heads and other parts are left plain except for the incised features. There is a small perforation in the middle of the body. Late Easter Chou.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.50.470
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.

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Publication History

  • Dorothy W. Gillerman, ed., Grenville L. Winthrop: Retrospective for a Collector, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, 1969), no. 028, pp. 22-23
  • 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. 490, p. 334
  • Jenny So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2019), pp. 206-9, cat. 24B
  • 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 2.6a-b, Page 34

Exhibition History

  • S427: Ancient Chinese Bronzes and Jades, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 10/20/1985 - 04/30/2008
  • 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