Gray-green jade disk with three exaggerated notches and three areas of serrated pattern.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

Pale gray green uniformly colored medium jade disk. The disk is divided into three equal sections by exaggerated notches with a smooth edge. Roughly halfway between each notch on the outer edge of the disk is a small section of serrated openwork. The inner edge of the jade disk is completely smooth, with a subtle rim that frames the perfect circle of negative space.

Gallery Text

In Neolithic China, nephrite and other beautiful stones were fashioned into nonfunctional ceremonial blades and ritual implements that were buried in the graves of important people. Many of the same types of jades, such as the diskshaped ritual implement known as a bi, were used during subsequent periods as well.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.50.532
Title
Notched, Serrate Jade Disk
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
disk
Date
c. 2500 BCE - c. 2000 BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Neolithic period, Longshan culture, c. 3000-1900 BCE
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/204824

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, evenly gray-green nephrite
Dimensions
Diam. 13.2 x Thickness 0.6 cm (5 3/16 x 1/4 in.)
Weight 142 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. 106 by Max Loehr:

106 Notched, Serrate Disk
Translucent, evenly gray-green jade. Sturdy disk with three deep notches and three sets of serrations on the arc between the notches. The wide perforation was originally biconical, but was ground smooth after drilling, The edges of the perimeter, too, have been smoothed. 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
1943.50.532
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. 106, p. 103

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