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A fairly flat stylized object of a tiger, crouching down with its nose near the ground, its mouth open.

The tiger is depicted in profile, with its head facing left. Its tail curls upward tightly close to its back leg, it has small uniform bumps on its back that form a texture, and a weave-like pattern carved into its legs, the head is smooth with a wide opened eye. It has two claw-like feet. The color of the jade varies from subtle creamy greens to varieties of warm and cool browns. Most of it has a thin carved line that follows its outer edge all around. This object is part of a pair.

Gallery Text

In the Zhou dynasty the number of jades in burial sites increased significantly, as multiple plaques and beads were sewn or strung together and draped over the face and body of the deceased. Jades in the forms of figures and animals became increasingly realistic, and surface patterns became more complex and highly decorative.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.50.469.A
Title
Jade Tiger (one of a pair)
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
ornament
Date
3rd 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/204745

Location

Location
Level 1, Room 1740, Early Chinese Art, Arts of Ancient China from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age
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Physical Descriptions

Medium
Dark brown and beige mottled nephrite
Dimensions
L. 19.1 x H. 8.8 x Thickness 0.5 cm (7 1/2 x 3 7/16 x 3/16 in.)
Weight 170 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. 438a by Max Loehr:

438 Pair of Tiger Slabs
Highly polished jade, the color of tortoise-shell. The uncouth bulk of the heads and bodies contrasts curiously with the highly ornate and formalistic execution. The faces, the surfaces of which are left plain, contrast with the diverse texture of the bodies, which are covered with plastic curls; the shoulders and hind-quarters, filled with incised, interlocked T -hooks; and the tails, marked by median lines and concentric curves. Striated ropes border the mouths and frame the jaws. The outline of the lower jaws exhibits the axe-shape observed before (e.g. Nos. 427 and 432), a shape that is very pronounced here on account of the inward-curved fangs. Jaws, forelegs, and hindlegs form a continuous chain of curlicues, set off from the bodies by openwork. The tails are similarly separated from the haunches by a narrow crescent-shaped slot. Each slab perforated at top center. 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
1943.50.469.A
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Takayasu Higuchi, ed., Chugoku bijutsu, dai 4-kan (Chinese Art in Western Collections vol. 4: Bronze and Jade), Kodansha (Tokyo, Japan, 1973), pl. 103 a
  • 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. 438a, p. 301
  • James Cuno, Alvin L. Clark, Jr., Ivan Gaskell, and William W. Robinson, Harvard's Art Museums: 100 Years of Collecting, ed. James Cuno, Harvard University Art Museums and Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (Cambridge, MA, 1996), pp. 54-55
  • Masterpieces of world art : Fogg Art Museum, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Busch-Reisinger Museum, 1997
  • Jenny So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2019), pp. 214, 216-18, cat. 26C

Exhibition History

  • Re-View: S228-230 Arts of Asia, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 05/31/2008 - 06/01/2013
  • 32Q: 1740 Early China I, Harvard Art Museums, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Subjects and Contexts

  • Collection Highlights
  • 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