Add to Collection

Add this item to an existing or new collection.
Harvard Art Museums
Incorrect Username, Email, or Password
Long, slender white jade hook with decorative diagonal marks and two dragon heads at opposite ends.

White jade carving with subtle brown marks in the form of a long, slender hook. The surface of the hook is incised with decorative diagonal marks. The shaft terminates on both ends with a stylized dragon head in profile. The head at the top faces outward towards the left. Its ears are turned back and point slightly upward. Its nose is suggested by an incised spiral. The head at the opposite end turns right facing the shaft. Its nose is longer and turns up slightly. Another form projects from the bottom of the hook suggesting an appendage or tail.

Gallery Text

During the Warring States and Han periods, jades functioned not only as ritual and burial items, but also as objects of personal adornment for the living. Other luxury materials, such as gold, bronze, and glass began to be incorporated with jades with greater frequency.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.50.453
Title
Long Jade Hook Terminating in Dragon Heads
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
hook
Date
3rd-2nd century BCE (?)
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Han dynasty, Western Han period, 206 BCE-9 CE
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/204774

Location

Location
Level 1, Room 1740, Early Chinese Art, Arts of Ancient China from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Whitish translucent nephrite with a few brown markings
Dimensions
H. 14.7 x W. 1 x Thickness 0.7 cm (5 13/16 x 3/8 x 1/4 in.)
Weight 26 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. 494 by Max Loehr:

494 Long Hook Terminating in Dragon Heads
Whitish translucent jade with a few brown markings. A shaft, elliptical in cross-section, forms a hook at the lower end, with a short snailshell-like projection downward in the axis of the shaft. Both ends terminate in dragon heads of slightly varying design. Except for these heads, the entire surface is diagonally fluted. There are drill-holes below each of the heads and a pair of holes in the middle of the shaft. At the back of the shaft are incised a number of transverse strokes and characters. Though indistinct on account of the fluting, these characters appear to read: ta kung i ; “great work one.” 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
1943.50.453
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. 494, p. 336

Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 1740 Early China I, Harvard Art Museums, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Subjects and Contexts

  • 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