Fragment of a Large Jade Bird Figure

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 1943.50.231
Title: Fragment of a Large Jade Bird Figure
Classification: Ritual Implements
Work Type: ornament
Date: 16th cent. BCE - 10th cent. 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/205035

Physical Descriptions

Medium: Light sea-green, translucent nephrite with sparse light brown markings
Dimensions: 8 x 4 x 0.6 cm (3 1/8 x 1 9/16 x 1/4 in.)
unspecified: 42 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. 127 by Max Loehr:

127 Fragment of a Large Bird Figure
Light sea-green, translucent jade with sparse light brown markings. Above the head, which is characterized by a nose-like beak, is a striated band resembling hair, topped by a symmetrical set of large notches. At the back of these notches is a fractured, downward-pointing hook. Depressions around the eyes, volutes terminating the beak, joined crescents suggesting the plumage, the volutes of the wings and those at the top of the sturdy legs, and the grooves on the wings and tail complete the design. The details are executed with broad, sloping cuts. There are fractures at the feet, the back of the tail, and at the protuberance above the tip of the wings; also fractured below the head. Shang or early Western Chou.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

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

Accession Year

1943

Object Number

1943.50.231

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. 127, p. 115

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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