Trapezoidal Jade Plaque | Harvard Art Museums

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 1943.50.471
Title: Trapezoidal Jade Plaque
Classification: Ritual Implements
Work Type: plaque, ritual
Date: possibly 722 BCE - 481 BCE
Places: Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period: Zhou dynasty, Spring and Autumn period, 770-476 BCE
Culture: Chinese
Persistent Link: https://hvrd.art/o/204789

Physical Descriptions

Medium: Cream, tan, and light gray nephrite with blackish spots
Dimensions: 3.6 x 6.2 x 0.4 cm (1 7/16 x 2 7/16 x 3/16 in.)
unspecified: 16 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. 377 by Max Loehr:

377 Trapezoidal Plaque
Cream, tan, and light gray jade with blackish spots, in the shape of a thin trapezoidal plaque. From the lower edge projects a recessed strip with two biconical drill-holes. One side is given the appearance of an extremely simplified face with eyes, consisting of two sunken concentric circles; a wedge-shaped part in the center; two sets of three horizontal grooves parallel to the upper edge; and two involute curls carved at the lower corners. Near the top of the center wedge there is a third perforation. On the opposite side is an engraving of a face of very different character, more complex and curvilinear, that would seem to have been added later. The face, in contrast to the other, is oriented so that the nose and lower portion of the face rest along the widest part of the trapezoid. Early Eastern Chou(?)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

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

Accession Year

1943

Object Number

1943.50.471

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

Alfred Salmony, Carved Jade of Ancient China, Gillick Press (Berkeley, CA, 1938), pl. 32: 7, 8
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. 377, p. 252

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

Your Collection

Log in to the Harvard Art Museums