An off-white jade disk with a circle cut out in the middle. There is an outer ring that has a pattern of small circles. The inner ring has many curved forms with their negative spaces cut out.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

The off-white jade disk has a circle cut out in the middle and lays flat on a dark grey background. There are some orange and dark brown discolored spots at the top and bottom of the piece. There is an outer ring that has a pattern of small circles. The inner ring has many curved forms with their negative spaces cut out. The forms have fine, carved lines that swirl throughout. The innermost ring has the same circle pattern as the outer ring.

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
1943.50.547
Title
Ornate Jade Disk in Openwork with Decoration of Dragons and Birds
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
disk
Date
4th-3rd century BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Warring States period (475-221 BCE) to Western Han period (206 BCE-9 CE)
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/204830

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
Pale celadon-colored, translucent nephrite with light and dark brown markings
Dimensions
Diam. 11.4 x Thickness 0.6 cm (4 1/2 x 1/4 in.)
Weight 116 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. 397 by Max Loehr:

397 Ornate Disk in Openwork
Pale celadon-colored translucent jade with light and dark brown markings. The décor of this disk consist of three zones: the outer and inner zones, which are decorated with relief curls, frame a middle zone fashioned in an openwork composition, made up of two symmetrical halves. Each half shows a bird-like figure flanked by two similar but not identical dragon-like monsters, all treated in a free, ornamental manner. The designs on the bodies of these animals consist of spirals in double outline, striations, and cross-hatching. 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
1943.50.547
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Dorothy W. Gillerman, ed., Grenville L. Winthrop: Retrospective for a Collector, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, 1969), no. 026, pp. 22-23
  • 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. 397, p. 270
  • Jenny So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2019), pp. 34-35, fig. 2.7a; pp. 224, 226-27, cat. 28C

Exhibition History

  • S427: Ancient Chinese Bronzes and Jades, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 10/20/1985 - 04/30/2008
  • 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

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