Jade Statuette of a Kneeling Man | Harvard Art Museums

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: 1943.50.318
Title: Jade Statuette of a Kneeling Man
Classification: Ritual Implements
Work Type: figurine
Date: 6th-5th century BCE
Places: Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period: Zhou dynasty, Spring and Autumn period, 770-476 BCE
Culture: Chinese
Persistent Link: https://hvrd.art/o/204749

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: Gray-green nephrite with black specks
Dimensions: H. 5.8 x W. 2.8 x D. 1.8 cm (2 5/16 x 1 1/8 x 11/16 in.)
Weight 44 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. 408 by Max Loehr:

408 Statuette of a Kneeling Man
Full-round figure, carved of gray-green jade with black specks; perforated from top to bottom. Compared with the archaic types, this figure is well proportioned and better articulated. The head and face are conceived in the round; the eyes bulge slightly, the nose forms a ridge, while the mouth is indicated only by a minute groove. The figure wears a small, turban-like headdress that leaves strands of hair uncovered at the sides and at the back. A coat, decorated with a symmetrical pattern of plastic curls, covers the chesty body and the thighs. Its collar is plain in front, but striated like a rope at the back. A belt with zigzag striations is hidden in the front by the overlapping hands. The forearms are covered by sleeves apparently of a fabric thinner than that of the coat. the side view shows the legs to be covered by a pattern of striated bands alternating with scaly bands. The underside of the bent legs is plain, while the soles of the feet show fine concentric grooves. The toes are visible, as though this richly attired man was barefoot. 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

1943.50.318

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. 408, p. 280
Jenny So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2019), pp. 234-5, cat 30A

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

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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1943.50.318: Jade Statuette of a Kneeling Man