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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.50.347
Title
Jade Serpent-Dragon
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
ornament
Date
475 BCE - 221 BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Zhou dynasty, Warring States period, 475-221 BCE
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/204757

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Mottled gray-green translucent nephrite
Dimensions
2 x 19.6 x 0.5 cm (13/16 x 7 11/16 x 3/16 in.)
unspecified: 46 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. 435 by Max Loehr:

435 Serpent-Dragon
Mottled gray-green translucent jade. The elongated, continually tapering, smoothly outlined body is snake-like, but the head, with its straight-lined lower jaw and curled snout, is that of a dragon. The body, terminating in a rectangular tail, is covered with interconnected spirals in low relief. A forward pointing hook above the tail is the only appendage left. Perforated near the middle. 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
1943.50.347
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. 435, p. 298
  • Jenny So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2019), pp. 220-22, cat. 27A

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