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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.50.524
Title
Jade 'Bi' Disk
Other Titles
Alternate Title: pi
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
disk
Date
c. 4000 BCE - c. 2000 BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Neolithic period
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/204847

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Slightly translucent, mottled dark green actinolite
Dimensions
1.4 x 17.9 cm (9/16 x 7 1/16 in.)
791 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. 5 by Max Loehr:

5 Pi Disk
Slightly translucent, mottled dark green stone. The heavy, irregularly rounded disk is of uneven thickness and shows a crude perforation, drilled from both sides. Late Neolithic(?). An X-Ray diffraction test undertaken by Cornelius S. Hurlbut, Jr., has shown the material to be actinolite, of coarse, fibrous structure. Its diffraction pattern resembles that of nephrite.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.50.524
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. 5, p. 35
  • Jenny So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2019), p.80, fig. 3

Exhibition History

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

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