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A jade piece that is shaped into a curved rectangle and is pale green in color. It is shown vertically. There are broad, swirling engraved lines throughout the piece. The top part of the piece has an engraved circle at the center and a curved cut-out shap

The jade piece is shaped into a curved rectangle and pale green in color. It is shown lying flat vertically on a black background. There are broad, swirling engraved lines throughout the piece. The lines have some red discoloration near the bottom of the piece. The top part of the piece has an engraved circle at the center and a curved cut-out shape to resemble a beak. The middle area is square in shape and has four engraved swirling lines in each corner. The bottom is cut out in an irregular shape and has finer engraved lines.

Gallery Text

The Shang refined Neolithic jade-making practices, fashioning ritual blades and implements of even greater sophistication than those of their predecessors, incorporating jade blades into turquoise-inlaid bronze hafts, and expanding their jade repertoire into representational shapes of humans and animals.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.50.355
Title
Curved Jade Figure of an Owl
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
pendant
Date
12th-10th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Shang dynasty (c. 1600-c. 1050 BCE) to Western Zhou period (c. 1050-771 BCE)
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/205015

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 light green nephrite; traces of cinnabar on the surface
Dimensions
H. 6.1 x W. 2.1 x Thickness 0.3 cm (2 3/8 x 13/16 x 1/8 in.)
Weight 9 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. 126 by Max Loehr:

126 Curved Figure of an Owl
Translucent light green jade; traces of cinnabar on the surface. The figure appears to have been carved from the fragment of a narrow disk. The various parts of the bird’s head and body are rendered as geometric forms. The head, tail, and leg are incised, but angular spirals in thread-relief cover the body or wings. Of the crest only the lowermost section remains; like the short tail, it is marked with fine, even striae. A large perforation gives shape to the underside of the hooked beak; a small hole was drilled above the eyes. Shang.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.50.355
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. 126, p. 114
  • Jenny So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2019), pp. 130-32, fig. 1

Exhibition History

  • 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