Jade Handle with Incised Design | Harvard Art Museums

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 1943.50.178
Title: Jade Handle with Incised Design
Classification: Ritual Implements
Work Type: handle
Date: 10th century 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/205302

Physical Descriptions

Medium: Light gray stone of fibrous structure
Dimensions: H. 9.9 x W. 2.2 x D. 0.4 cm (3 7/8 x 7/8 x 3/16 in.)
Weight 16 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. 241 by Max Loehr:

241 Handle with Incised Design
Flattish handle of the same type as No. 239, made from a light gray stone of fibrous structure. Traces of cinnabar on one side. The surfaces of both sides are completely filled by two superposed, engraved figures. The upper figure represents a bird, whose tail plume hovers above its raised, crested head. Its claws rest on the head of the lower figure, which is of vaguely anthropomorphic character and, like the bird, composed of curvilinear forms. The design is the same on both sides. The short, narrow base shows part of a large perforation. Western Chou.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

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

Accession Year

1943

Object Number

1943.50.178

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, Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1975), cat. no. 241, p. 184

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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