Broad, Knife-Shaped Jade Tablet | Harvard Art Museums

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 1943.50.109
Title: Broad, Knife-Shaped Jade Tablet
Classification: Ritual Implements
Work Type: knife
Date: c. 4000 BCE - c. 2000 BCE
Places: Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period: Neolithic period
Culture: Chinese
Persistent Link: https://hvrd.art/o/205042

Physical Descriptions

Medium: Dark chocolate-brown nephrite with 20th-century inscription
Dimensions: 33 x 13.8 x 0.4 cm (13 x 5 7/16 x 3/16 in.)
unspecified: 465 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. 525 by Max Loehr:

525 Broad, Knife-shaped Tablet
Dark chocolate-brown jade with indistinct markings. The approximately trapezoidal blade has an almost straight back, except for a downward slant at the upper left corner. The double-beveled cutting edge is slightly concave. There are four conical perforations, drilled from the upper side: three along the back, and the fourth along the median near the right edge. On the reverse side there is an inscription of twenty-three Small Seal characters, dated Chien-ch’u 3 (A.D. 78), which is discussed in the Introduction, section on on inscriptions. Eastern Han(?).

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

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

Accession Year

1943

Object Number

1943.50.109

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. 525, p. 362

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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