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A jade ring that is made up of a twisting band. On the bottom-left is the shape of a dragon head that has been engraved with fine lines. It is pale yellow in color with some brown discoloration to the bottom-right.

A jade ring that is made up of a twisting band that has long ridges along it. On the bottom-left is the shape of a dragon head with its mouth slightly open that has been engraved with fine lines. It is pale yellow in color with some brown discoloration to the bottom-right. Is it shown laying flat on a black background.

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
1943.50.611
Title
Fluted Jade Coil with Animal Head
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
ring
Date
3rd-2nd century BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Warring States period (475-221 BCE) to Western Han period (206 BCE-9 CE)
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/204664

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
Translucent gray and smoke-brown nephrite
Dimensions
Diam. 7.5 x W. 1.5 x Thickness 0.9 cm (2 15/16 x 9/16 x 3/8 in.)
Weight 50 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. 578 by Max Loehr:

578 Fluted Coil with Animal Head
Translucent gray and smoke-brown jade ring, with its overlapping ends shaped as the head and tail of a curled animal. The body is fluted like a loosely twisted rope, with rounded grooves and sharp ridges. The head is somewhat horse-like, with pronounced nostrils and a mane parted behind the ears; the lower jaw is shifted curiously sideways. Han.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.50.611
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. 578, p. 399
  • Jenny So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2019), pp. 35-36, fig. 2.9b
  • 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 2.9a-b

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