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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.50.192
Title
Heavy Jade Prism-Shaped Bead
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
ornament
Date
14th cent. BCE - 11th cent. BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Shang dynasty, c. 1600-c. 1050 BCE
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/204899

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Greenish, partly discolored nephrite
Dimensions
7 x 2.3 x 1.9 cm (2 3/4 x 7/8 x 3/4 in.)
unspecified: 64 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. 180 by Max Loehr:

180 Heavy Prism-shaped Bead
Despite its rough appearance, this ts’ung_-like, heavy pendant of greenish, partly discolored jade is distinguished by it s delicately carved decoration. On the wider sides and executed in raised lines are _t’ao-t’ieh faces in antithetical positions; cicadas, face-to-face, occupy the narrow sides. The four corners are accentuated by notched flanges. The object is perforated lengthwise; the inside of the fairly wide, conical hole is encrusted with cinnabar. Late Shang.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.50.192
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. 180, p. 140

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or 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