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Profile view of a milky light green colored stylized cat, facing left with S-curved neck, back, and tail, looking fierce. 　

The feline creature’s back is arched into a curve with the chest and front paw bulging forward as the head coils slightly back with an open mouth and carved round eye. The surface has carved lines and is highly polished. Brown honey-colored striations occur near the tip of the head on left, and tail on the right. Its light translucent color is reminiscent of glowing moon light.

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
1943.50.294
Title
Small Jade Feline
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
ornament
Date
475-221 BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Zhou dynasty, Warring States period, 475-221 BCE
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/204785

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
Highly translucent, evenly light green nephrite with dark brown markings
Dimensions
H. 2.6 x W. 4 x Thicknes 0.4 cm (1 x 1 9/16 x 3/16 in.)
Weight 6 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. 440 by Max Loehr:

440 Small Feline
Highly translucent, evenly light green jade with dark brown markings along the upper edge. The head, with its open mouth and large eye, is distinguished by an ear as large as a crest; from this descends a wing-like appendage, which rests on the haunches and ends in a curl. This curl in turn is echoed by the heavy, twisted tail. The figure has a certain aplomb, with its head drawn back and its breast—supported by the firmly planted forelegs—bulging forward. On the left side the surfaces are modeled in low relief and sparsely ornamented with incised curved lines and a striated comma; on the right side the incised lines are the same but the treatment is entirely flat. Perforated through the ear. 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
1943.50.294
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. 440, p. 302

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