Curved Jade Tiger Figure | Harvard Art Museums

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 1943.50.288
Title: Curved Jade Tiger Figure
Classification: Ritual Implements
Work Type: pendant
Date: c. 11th cent. BCE - 771 BCE
Places: Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period: Zhou dynasty, Western Zhou period, c. 1050-771 BCE
Culture: Chinese
Persistent Link: https://hvrd.art/o/204740

Physical Descriptions

Medium: Translucent light green nephrite
Dimensions: 10.1 x 1.9 x 0.6 cm (4 x 3/4 x 1/4 in.)
unspecified: 39 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. 301 by Max Loehr:

301 Curved Tiger Figure
Translucent light green jade with a few slightly calcified spots. The curvature of the object suggest that it was carved from the segment of a disk. The figure is distinct from Shang and earlier Western Chou designs not only in form and proportions, but also in the technique of rendering the parts in low relief rather than by incisions. The tail is embellished with an ornamental flourish. Perforations near the end of the tail, at the belly, above the joints of the legs, at the mouth, and for the eyes, together produce a kind of openwork effect. Late Western Chou(?).

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop

Accession Year

1943

Object Number

1943.50.288

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Publication History

Paul Pelliot, Jades archaiques de Chine appartenant a M. C. T. Loo (Paris, France and Brussels, Belgium, 1925), pl. 24: I
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. 301, p. 209
Jenny So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2019), pp. 84-85, cat. 5B

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

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