Add to Collection

Add this item to an existing or new collection.
Harvard Art Museums
Incorrect Username, Email, or Password
This object does not yet have a description.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.50.213
Title
Small Jade Bird with a Long Plume
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
pendant
Date
c. 1100 - 771 BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Zhou dynasty, Western Zhou period, c. 1050-771 BCE
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/204939

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Translucent gray-green, partly calcified nephrite
Dimensions
H. 3.5 x W. 6.2 x D. 0.3 cm (1 3/8 x 2 7/16 x 1/8 in.)
Weight 9 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. 269 by Max Loehr:

269 Bird with a Long Plume
Translucent gray-green, parley calcified jade. Elaborately carved figure of a bird with a pointed beak and a sweeping plume. A large spiral marks the onset of the wings, which are incised with a slanting cut, while the tail is drawn upward in a most unusual manner. The two angular volutes within the tail are also unusual. The four pairs of concentric curves, on the other hand, are reminiscent of the design of the tail feathers on No. 259. Next to the bird’s foot appears the striated “fin”’ behind this fin is a hook-like appendage that does not occur in any of the birds described above. Western Chou.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.50.213
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.

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

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. 269, p. 198

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