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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.50.638
Title
Jade Horse Head
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture, head
Date
206 BCE-220 CE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Han dynasty, 206 BCE-220 CE
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/204549

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Sea-green nephrite with traces of pigment on the surface
Dimensions
7.9 x 18 x 6.1 cm (3 1/8 x 7 1/16 x 2 3/8 in.)

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. 562 by Max Loehr:

562 Horse Head
A larger version of the preceding sculpture, No. 561, carved from the same kind of translucent green jade, here showing whitish streaks rather than specks. The color of the red pigment applied at the eyes, nostrils, and mouth is brighter here, and there are fewer calcareous surface deposits. The oval socket at the bottom is filled with oxidized iron and remnants of wood that are not mineralized. Han.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.50.638
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. 562, p. 390
  • Jenny So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2019), pp. 43-45, fig. 2.27c-d; pp. 294, 296-7, cat. 43B
  • 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 2.27c-d, Page 45

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