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A small vertical ornament that’s slightly wider at the top, with a bird figure carved into it.　

A stylized engraved bird stands in the center, it has a closed hooked beak, round eye, and faces to the left in profile. The ornament’s edge is notched all around, except for the bottom which is flat. The light falls from the top accentuating the carving and the translucent creamy jade color that varies from warm to cooler greens. The object is small enough to fit in one’s hand.

Gallery Text

In the Zhou dynasty the number of jades in burial sites increased significantly, as multiple plaques and beads were sewn or strung together and draped over the face and body of the deceased. Jades in the forms of figures and animals became increasingly realistic, and surface patterns became more complex and highly decorative.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.50.135
Title
Crenelated Jade Tablet with Bird Decor
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
ornament
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/205144

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 dark green nephrite with minute dark blue and gold flecks
Dimensions
H. 7.5 x W. 2.9 x Thickness 0.2 cm (2 15/16 x 1 1/8 x 1/16 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. 333 by Max Loehr:

333 Crenelated Tablet with Bird Décor
Very thin tablet, its outline tapering, cut from a piece of translucent dark green jade with minute dark blue and gold flecks. Except for the base, the contour is carefully, if not quite symmetrically, crenelated and notched. Engraved bird figures, identical on both sides, fill the given spaces. They compare with those on No. 332 if details are disregarded; in this case, however, there are no dragon heads. Late Western Chou.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.50.135
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

  • Dorothy W. Gillerman, ed., Grenville L. Winthrop: Retrospective for a Collector, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, 1969), no. 021, pp. 18-19, repr.
  • 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. 333, p. 222
  • Jenny So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2019), cat. no. 14C, pp. 130-33

Exhibition History

  • S427: Ancient Chinese Bronzes and Jades, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 10/20/1985 - 04/30/2008
  • 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