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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.50.458
Title
Composite Jade Belt or Garment Hook
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
ornament
Date
4th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. 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/204735

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Thirteen sections of nephrite of varying shades, held together by an iron core
Dimensions
L. 23.8 x W. 4 cm (9 3/8 x 1 9/16 in.)
unspecified: 190 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. 473 by Max Loehr:

473 Composite Belt or Garment Hook
Large, heavy, and luxurious object consisting of thirteen jade sections, held together by an iron core that penetrates them. Jade of varying shades is used for the sections: pale green, mottled gray and brown, light bluish gray and light brown. Topmost, there is a slender dragon head, comparable to that of No. 472. The head at the opposite end is of a vaguely feline character, again similar to the corresponding mask on No. 472. In addition there is a third mask inserted above the middle and facing the dragon head. The intervening sections are oval in cross-section, partly fluted and partly plain. Two of them have the same upcurved, sharp-edged later extensions as seen in the preceding piece; just above the lower of these two pieces; on the back of which is an oval button, the iron core is broken. 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
1943.50.458
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. 473, p. 323
  • Jenny So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2019), pp. 39-40, fig. 2.16a-b; pp. 246-8, cat. 34A
  • 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 2.16a-b, Page 40

Related Works

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