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A pair of jade sculptures of very long, thin off-white fish. The top one faces the left and the bottom one faces the right. There are carved lines on the tops and bottoms or show fins. There are carved circles as eyes. There are small holes through the mouths.

A pair of jade sculptures of very long, thin fish on a black background. The two fish are shown horizontally parallel to each other with some space in between them. The top one faces the left and the bottom one faces the right. There are carved lines on the tops and bottoms or show fins. The fish are very flat except for the small end tails that point out. There are carved circles as eyes. There are small holes through the mouths. The fish are off-white in color.

Gallery Text

The Shang refined Neolithic jade-making practices, fashioning ritual blades and implements of even greater sophistication than those of their predecessors, incorporating jade blades into turquoise-inlaid bronze hafts, and expanding their jade repertoire into representational shapes of humans and animals.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.50.410.A
Title
Elongated Jade Fish Sihouette (one of a pair)
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
pendant
Date
12th-10th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Shang dynasty (c. 1600-c. 1050 BCE) to Western Zhou period (c. 1050-771 BCE)
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/202789

Location

Location
Level 1, Room 1740, Early Chinese Art, Arts of Ancient China from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age
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Physical Descriptions

Medium
Mildly translucent, light gray nephrite
Dimensions
L. 16.1 x W. 0.9 x Thickness 0.3 cm (6 5/16 x 3/8 x 1/8 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. 279 by Max Loehr:

279 Pair of Elongated Fish Silhouettes
Mildly translucent, light gray jade. Extremely elongated plano-convex bodies. The incised details are identical on both sides. Gills marked by two concentric curves. The daintily flaring, cleft tails are carved with remarkable precision. Western Chou(?).

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.50.410.A
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. 279a, p. 202

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 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