Jade Animal Mask | Harvard Art Museums

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 1943.50.299
Title: Jade Animal Mask
Classification: Ritual Implements
Work Type: ornament
Date: 14th-8th century 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/204783

Physical Descriptions

Medium: Highly translucent, bluish gray nephrite with light brown veins
Dimensions: H. 3.6 x W. 3.5 x D. 1.7 cm (1 7/16 x 1 3/8 x 11/16 in.)
Weight 32 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. 162 by Max Loehr:

162 Animal Mask
Highly translucent, bluish gray jade with light brown veins. This mask was recut from a corner fragment of a small ts’ung. The corner corresponds to the top of the mask; the back is smooth and polished. Except for the high relief of the mushroom-shaped horns, ears(?), and nostrils, the facial characteristics are rendered by incised double outlines. Angular lines at the lower corners of the mask, reminiscent of the bands in the preceding specimen No. 161 may suggest whiskers – even though feline character of this mask is compromised by the horns. A large conical perforation is drilled through the nose from the front; a smaller one joins it from below. Late Shang or Western Chou.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

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

Accession Year

1943

Object Number

1943.50.299

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. 162, p. 131

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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