1943.50.277: Jade Cicada in the Round
Ritual ImplementsA jade sculpture of a short, round cicada. The image is shown with the sculpture lying flat and head pointing upward. The top is curved with carved lines to detail the head. The middle and bottom have carved lines that make downward facing points. The bottom comes to a point. It is yellow and light green in color with some orange spots.
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
- 1943.50.277
- Title
- Jade Cicada in the Round
- Classification
- Ritual Implements
- Work Type
- ornament
- Date
- 3rd 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/204710
Location
- Location
-
Level 1, Room 1740, Early Chinese Art, Arts of Ancient China from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Pale, translucent green nephrite with creamy brown markings
- Dimensions
-
H. 2.8 x W. 1.8 x D. 1.1 cm (1 1/8 x 11/16 x 7/16 in.)
Weight 7 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. 368 by Max Loehr:
368 Cicada in the Round
Pale, translucent green jade with creamy brown markings. The shape and workmanship are closely similar to No. 367, but the wings are marked by four “feather” on each side. Eastern Chou(?).
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
- Accession Year
- 1943
- Object Number
- 1943.50.277
- 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. 368, p. 247
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