Seated Jade Bear | Harvard Art Museums

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 1943.50.310
Title: Seated Jade Bear
Classification: Ritual Implements
Work Type: pendant
Date: possibly 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/204793

Physical Descriptions

Medium: Translucent greenish white, partly calcified nephrite
Dimensions: H. 3 x W. 2.3 cm (1 3/16 x 7/8 in.)
unspecified: 18 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. 449 by Max Loehr:

449 Seated Bear
Translucent greenish white, partly calcified jade. The small figure is distinguished by very delicate modeling and by its complicated, almost twisted posture. The head is bent down, touching the right paw and right forefoot; the left foreleg, with its pronounced elbow, rests on the knee of the left hindleg. The head is modeled with great precision. The eyes, in particular, are rendered plastically rather than as flat, conventional elements of design. An elongated triangle in relief, marked by a median groove, reaches from the neck down to the tail; since it is joined to a small collar around the neck, this triangle may represent some kind of fancy attire fittingly worn by a performing circus bear. Through the collar a small suspension hole is drilled. 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

1943.50.310

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. 449, p. 307

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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