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This gray marble scoop is adorned with openwork lateral flanges. Etched t’ao-t’ieh faces are visible on the scoop handle.

This gray marble, partly calcified, scoop is wide and mostly flat except for the recessed area of the scoop. Openwork lateral flanges run the entire length of either side of the object and down the center of the handle. Three t’ao-t’ieh faces (masks) with differently shaped horns appear in double outline on the surface of the handle.

Gallery Text

One of the earliest forms of Chinese writing is preserved in the simple inscriptions on bronze vessels from the late Shang period. Integrally cast into the bronzes — as opposed to being incised into the vessel after the metal had hardened — these marks were usually placed on the interior wall or floor of a vessel; the lids of covered vessels had matching marks on their undersides. Shang inscriptions tend to be highly pictographic, with many resembling birds, weapons, or humanoid figures. The inscriptions are not always translatable into modern Chinese characters, but most are identifiable as the names of either the aristocratic owners who commissioned the vessels, or the ancestors to whom they were dedicated. During the succeeding Zhou dynasty, written characters became more standardized and bronze inscriptions lengthened, often commemorating an event in which the person commissioning the bronze was involved. Bronze inscriptions were thus akin to historical texts worthy of preservation and study.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.50.629
Title
Ceremonial Jade Scoop
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
scoop
Date
12th-11th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Shang dynasty, c. 1600-c. 1050 BCE
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/204581

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
Bluish gray marble, calcified in part, with cinnabar stains
Dimensions
H. 26 x W. 8.3 cm (10 1/4 x 3 1/4 in.)
Weight 512 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. 186 by Max Loehr:

186 Ceremonial Scoop
Bluish gray marble, calcified in part, with earthy concretions and cinnabar stains. The edges of the wide, flat surface of the handle continue into the edges of the hollowed-out scoop, and the uninterrupted, lateral, openwork flanges further connect the two parts. A shorter, similar flange stands upright in the middle of the handle and follows the bend of a narrow, loop-like projection at the end. Three t’ao-t’ieh faces with as many different types of horns are engraved in double outlines on the handle; these designs are intersected by the vertical flange. The underside is plain. Shang.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.50.629
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. 186, p. 143
  • Jenny So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2019), pp. 140-43, cat. 17A

Exhibition History

  • S427: Ancient Chinese Bronzes and Jades, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 10/20/1985 - 04/30/2008
  • Re-View: S228-230 Arts of Asia, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 05/31/2008 - 06/01/2013
  • 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