A jade sculpture of a turtle from a bird’s eye view. The turtle’s shell has an engraved, geometric pattern and its feet are underneath the shell with its toes poking out. The turtle’s head is turned to the left and tail turned to the right.
front Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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front Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

The jade sculpture is of a turtle from a bird’s eye view. The turtle is placed so that its head is pointing towards the top-left corner of the image and its tail is pointing towards the bottom-right corner. The turtle’s head is turned to the left. The turtle’s shell has an engraved, geometric pattern and its feet are underneath the shell with its toes poking out. Each of its four feet has three toes. The sculpture is pale green in color with some light yellow wear and brown wear within the engraved details.

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
1943.50.175
Title
Small Jade Turtle in the Round
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
pendant
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/205301

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 gray-green, partly discolored nephrite
Dimensions
L. 3.8 x W. 2.1 x Thickness 0.9 cm (1 1/2 x 13/16 x 3/8 in.)
Weight 7 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. 309 by Max Loehr:

309 Small Turtle in the Round
Translucent gray-green, partly discolored jade worked as a delicately and realistically carved figure. The head is turned to the left, while the short tail swings to the right. The feet are neatly carved out. The plastron is left plain; it is perforated transversally by two slanting holes between the forelegs. On the carapace is an incised ornament of boxed lozenges surrounded by boxed rectangles. Western Chou.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.50.175
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

  • 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. 309, p. 211
  • Jenny So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2019), pp. 166-69, cat. 20C

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 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