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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.52.61
Title
Large Gold Buckle with Inlaid Jade Fragments
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
ornament
Date
4th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Zhou dynasty, Warring States period, 475-221 BCE
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/204282

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Gold with light gray nephrite and dark glass (?) inlays
Dimensions
22.2 x 5.4 x 6 cm (8 3/4 x 2 1/8 x 2 3/8 in.)
unspecified: 376 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. 476 by Max Loehr:

476 Large Gold Buckle with Inlaid Jade Fragments
Cast gold body in openwork design, representing intertwined serpent-dragons in an asymmetrical arrangement adapted to the shape of the jade inlays. At both ends appear large animal masks seen frontally. The mask at the lower end, with eyes of a blackish alloy (niello?), has a media crest of gray jade, apparently the fragment of a late Eastern Chou carving. The hook terminates in a dragon head. The jade inlays consist of two light gray fragments with plastic spirals, presumably parts of dragon figures; they differ sufficiently to make it certain that they derive from distinct pieces. A gap between the two inlays was filled with plaster and mud. The magnificent gold setting, however, does not seem to have been affected by either damage or repairs, except for a sheet of darker yellow gold inserted in the opening of the upper jade volute. Both the animals and the frame proper are decorated with finely incised geometric patterns. Late Eastern Chou.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.52.61
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. 476, p. 326
  • Jenny So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2019), pp. 40-42, figs. 2.19a-c, 2.20a-b
  • Katherine Eremin, Angela Chang, and Ariel O'Connor, Jade in the Lab, Early Chinese jades in the Harvard Art Museums, Harvard Art Museum (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2019), Pages 28-47, Figure 2.19a-c, Page 41; Figure 2.20a-b, Page 42

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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