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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.50.238
Title
Jade Bird Figure (one of a pair)
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
ornament
Date
early 20th century
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/204962

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Translucent light gray stone with white speckles
Dimensions
3.8 x 4.7 x 0.3 cm (1 1/2 x 1 7/8 x 1/8 in.)
unspecified: 8 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. 627a by Max Loehr:

627 Pair of Bird Figures
Translucent light gray material with white speckles. The two bird figures, which are identical in shape and size, were obviously cut from the same pebble. Their design is uncommon and of peculiar hardness. No part harmonizes with any other, and some of the details, such as the eyes, the wavy crest, and horizontally fluted wings, or the striated appendage under the legs, are not paralleled among the conventional examples of bird figures. The raised-line technique used to define the various parts in distinctly reminiscent of Shang lapidary work, but the design as a whole, though harking back to Shang motifs, in incompatible with Shang originals. It would seem justifiable to classify these birds as archaistic items of uncertain, possibly recent date.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.50.238
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. 627a, p. 430

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