A profile view of a jade sculpture of a rabbit. The rabbit’s head faces the left side and its ears are straight back. Its front and back legs are straight out beneath its body and pointing forward.
front Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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front Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

A jade sculpture of a rabbit. The image is a profile view of the sculpture on its side. The rabbit’s face faces the left with its long ears pointing straight back horizontally behind its face. Its body is flat and straight with a small tail at the bottom of its rear. Its front and back legs point out towards the front-left. There is a small hole in its front foot. The sculpture is dark green in color.

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
1943.50.305
Title
Jade Rabbit in the Round
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
pendant
Date
11th-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/204481

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
Clear, bluish green, highly translucent nephrite
Dimensions
H. 1.9 x L. 3 x Thickness 0.6 cm (3/4 x 1 3/16 x 1/4 in.)
Weight 5 g

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[Yamanaka & Co., New York, December 31, 1941] sold; to Grenville L. Winthrop, New York (1941-1943), 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. 365 by Max Loehr:

365 Rabbit in the Round
Clear bluish green, highly translucent jade. The rabbit’s flying ears, longs legs, and slender proportions endow the small sculpture with great liveliness. His head, with its protruding eyes and realistically rendered muzzle, is carefully and delicately modeled. Tiny holes are drilled through the forepaws. Eastern Chou(?).

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.50.305
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 (Cambridge, MA, Fogg Art Museum, 1975)., cat. no. 365, p. 246
  • Jenny So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2019), pp. 166-69, cat. 20D

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