A double-pointed blade made of carved olive green jade
front Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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front Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

A long flat piece of mottled dark olive green jade with white flecks, is carved into a vertical rectangular shape with inward curving sides. The short, top side curves more sharply inward to form two sharp points at each corner, and this edge is also beveled thinner than the rest of the blade. At the bottom of the blade, two short prongs project outward to left and right. Below the blade the tang, which would have been inserted into a handle, is short and slightly narrower than the blade. At the top center of the tang a small circular hole has been cut.

Gallery Text

In Neolithic China, nephrite and other beautiful stones were fashioned into nonfunctional ceremonial blades and ritual implements that were buried in the graves of important people. Many of the same types of jades, such as the diskshaped ritual implement known as a bi, were used during subsequent periods as well.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.50.59
Title
Zhang Blade
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
scepter
Date
Longshan or Erlitou culture, c. 2000 - c. 1700 BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Neolithic period
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/204924

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
Black nephrite with faint markings
Dimensions
H. 38 x W. 10.4 x Thickness 0.8 cm (14 15/16 x 4 1/8 x 5/16 in.)
Weight 446 g

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[Ton-Ying & Co., January 8, 1935] sold; to Grenville L. Winthrop, New York (1935-1943), 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. 220 by Max Loehr:

220 Scepter
Black jade with faint markings. Flat blade with concave sides, flaring strongly toward the two prongs of its concave upper edge, which is sharpened from one side only. The base juts far out over the tang, forming descending projections with hooks pointing upward. The perforation of the tang is conical, drilled from one side. On the same side, a longitudinal saw-cut runs along the edge of the tang and into the lower portion of the blade. Western Chou.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.50.59
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.

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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. 220, pp. 170-171
  • Jenny So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2019), p. 48, ill.; pp. 92-94, cat. 7A

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