A jade pendant that is a long and narrow rectangle in shape and pale yellow in color with some red discoloration. There are small, curved lines throughout the piece that create swirling shapes.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

The jade pendant is a long and narrow rectangle shape and shown vertically on a dark grey background. The pendant is pale yellow in color with some red discoloration. There are small, curved lines on the piece that create a regular swirling pattern throughout. The edges of the pendant are straight and flat.

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
1943.50.122
Title
Oblong Jade Pendant (one of a pair)
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
pendant
Date
5th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Zhou dynasty, Eastern Zhou period, 770-256 BCE
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/205228

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
Evenly light gray-green nephrite
Dimensions
H. 11.8 x W. 1.7 x Thickness 1 cm (4 5/8 x 11/16 x 3/8 in.)
Weight 42 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. 373 by Max Loehr:

373 Pair of Ornate, Oblong Pendants
Rectangular, slightly tapering prisms of evenly light gray-green jade, perforated lengthwise through their centers. Their four faces are covered with a dense relief pattern of regularly repeated, asymmetrically placed hooks and curls, which produce the crenelated silhouette. One of the pieces (a) is distinguished by sparingly applied oblique striae and by thin incised circles characteristic of zoomorphic heads, such as those on No. 372, from which these designs derive. The other piece (b) lacks these striae and circles and thus results in a pattern composed solely of relief curls. On the fist piece (a), one of the narrow faces was left in an unfinished state. Early Eastern Chou.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.50.122
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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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. 024, pp. 20-21, repr.
  • Max Loehr and Louisa G. Fitzgerald Huber, Ancient Chinese Jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University (Cambridge, MA, Fogg Art Museum, 1975)., cat. no. 373a, p. 250
  • Jenny So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2019), pp. 228, 230-31, cat. 29B

Exhibition History

  • S427: Ancient Chinese Bronzes and Jades, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 10/20/1985 - 04/30/2008
  • Re-View: S228-230 Arts of Asia, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 05/31/2008 - 06/01/2013
  • 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