Small Jade 'Bi' Disk | Harvard Art Museums

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 1943.50.513
Title: Small Jade 'Bi' Disk
Other Titles: Alternate Title: pi
Classification: Ritual Implements
Work Type: disk
Date: c. 4000 - c. 2000 BCE
Places: Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period: Neolithic period
Culture: Chinese
Persistent Link: https://hvrd.art/o/204579

Physical Descriptions

Medium: Irregularly rounded, sturdy disk of a fine-grained, mottled dark brown stone
Dimensions: Diam. 10 x Thickness 0.9 cm (3 15/16 x 3/8 in.)
Weight 157 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. 7 by Max Loehr:

7 Small Pi Disk
Irregularly rounded, sturdy dish of a fine-grained, mottled dark brown stone. Segmental ledges on both sides of the unevenly thick disk are remains of the sawing process. The perforation, drilled from one side, is conical. The narrow end of the perforation has a rough, irregular edge, Neolithic(?).

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop

Accession Year

1943

Object Number

1943.50.513

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. 7, p. 37

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

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