Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
Unable to open [object Object]: HTTP 0 attempting to load TileSource: https://ids.lib.harvard.edu/ids/iiif/20682692/info.json
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
This object does not yet have a description.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.50.326
Title
Jade Pendant with Demon Figure
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
pendant
Date
16th cent. BCE - 8th cent. BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Shang dynasty (c. 1600-c. 1050 BCE) to Western Zhou period (c. 1050-771 BCE)
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/204750

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Bone-colored stone with dark gray markings
Dimensions
5.3 x 2.7 x 0.8 cm (2 1/16 x 1 1/16 x 5/16 in.)
unspecified: 20 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. 124 by Max Loehr:

124 Pendant with Demon Figure
Bone-colored stone with dark gray markings. The top half represents a vaguely anthropomorphic figure in low relief. Its nonhuman face is heart-shaped, with raised, oval eyes, a muzzle, and two _C_-curl horns. Beneath this is a triangle formed by the arms, which are rendered with little regard to anatomy; the rudimentary hands are separated from the arms by striated cuffs. Engraved on the back, on at each side, are two legs with paws. Whether these legs belong with the ovals (defined by raised lines) on the front is unclear; for these ovals enclose longitudinally set eyes which form part of an animal mask, characterized by a curled snout and a thin mouth incised across the lower edge, which fills the slightly recessed lower half of the object. A perforation drilled from the top and bottom runs through the entire length; close to this, two holes drilled from the top and back meet at right angles to form a secondary perforation, while a similar perforation at the lower edge has been broken open. Shang or Western Chou.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.50.326
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.

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

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. 124, p. 113
  • Meryl Faith Cohen, "Ancient Chinese Jade Figures in the Winthrop Collection: An Anthropological Inquiry" (thesis (certificate in conservation), Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, March 1990), Unpublished, pp. 1-110 passim

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or 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