A yellow and orange jade disk with a circle cut out in the middle. There is a pattern of small circles throughout the piece.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

The yellow and orange jade disk has a circle cut out in the middle and lays flat on a dark grey background. There are caramel and dark brown discolored spots at the top and bottom of the piece. There is a pattern of small circles throughout the piece. The center has a raised lip around it that has small, carved lines that make an encircling pattern.

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
1943.50.544
Title
Ornate Jade Disk in Openwork
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
disk
Date
475 - 221 BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Zhou dynasty, Warring States period, 475-221 BCE
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/204576

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
Olive-green and russet nephrite
Dimensions
Diam. 11 x Thickness 0.4 cm (4 5/16 x 3/16 in.)
Weight 74 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. 398 by Max Loehr:

398 Ornate Disk in Openwork
Olive-green and russet jade disk consisting of two zones separated by three openwork slits. The outer zone is decorated with plastic curls; the inner one, which is faceted, shows a finely engraved pattern of widely spaced, elongated spirals and striations, confined to the central facet. The design is the same on both sides. Shiny but not glossy surface. 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
1943.50.544
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. 398, p. 271
  • Jenny So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2019), pp. 34-35, fig. 2.5a-b; pp. 38-39, fig. 2.14a; pp. 224, 226, cat. 28B
  • 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 2.5a-b, Page 34; Figure 2.14a, Page 39

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