Small Jade Bird with a Long Plume

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 1943.50.213
Title: Small Jade Bird with a Long Plume
Classification: Ritual Implements
Work Type: pendant
Date: c. 1100 - 771 BCE
Places: Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period: Zhou dynasty, Western Zhou period, c. 1050-771 BCE
Culture: Chinese
Persistent Link: https://hvrd.art/o/204939

Physical Descriptions

Medium: Translucent gray-green, partly calcified nephrite
Dimensions: H. 3.5 x W. 6.2 x D. 0.3 cm (1 3/8 x 2 7/16 x 1/8 in.)
Weight 9 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. 269 by Max Loehr:

269 Bird with a Long Plume
Translucent gray-green, parley calcified jade. Elaborately carved figure of a bird with a pointed beak and a sweeping plume. A large spiral marks the onset of the wings, which are incised with a slanting cut, while the tail is drawn upward in a most unusual manner. The two angular volutes within the tail are also unusual. The four pairs of concentric curves, on the other hand, are reminiscent of the design of the tail feathers on No. 259. Next to the bird’s foot appears the striated “fin”’ behind this fin is a hook-like appendage that does not occur in any of the birds described above. Western Chou.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

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

Accession Year

1943

Object Number

1943.50.213

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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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. 269, p. 198

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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