A jade ring that is pale brown in color with some darker discoloration. The top part comes to a small point with two different shapes cut out on each side. The bottom comes to a wide, curved point with some engraved lines.
front Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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front Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

The jade ring is pale brown in color with some darker discoloration and shown flat on a dark grey background. The top part comes to a small point with two different shapes cut out on each side. The left side has a short, flat shape that has curled edges on the top and bottom. The right side has a tall, curved shape that reaches up and out. The ring hole is closer to the top part. The bottom comes to a wide, curved point with swirling engraved lines that make a pattern.

Gallery Text

During the Warring States and Han periods, jades functioned not only as ritual and burial items, but also as objects of personal adornment for the living. Other luxury materials, such as gold, bronze, and glass began to be incorporated with jades with greater frequency.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.50.639
Title
Ornamental Jade Archer's Ring
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
ring
Date
3rd-2nd century BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Han dynasty, Western Han period, 206 BCE-9 CE
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/204607

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
Strongly translucent, white, yellowish, and brown jade with a lustrous polish
Dimensions
H. 6 cm (2 3/8 in.)
Weight 22 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. 453 by Max Loehr:

453 Ornamental Archer’s Ring
Strongly translucent, white, yellowish, and brown jade with a lustrous polish. The ring is a decorative version of No. 451, but the perforation is far smaller and the entire body is flatter. In addition to the ornamentally curved spur there appears a second, exquisitely shaped appendage at the opposite side. Both the upper and the lower surfaces are decorated with incised, interlocking spirals. A small tunnel is drilled across the angular back of the ring. 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
1943.50.639
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. 453, p. 309
  • Jenny So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2019), pp. 250-3, cat. 35B

Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 1740 Early China I, Harvard Art Museums, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or 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