1943.50.232: Notched Jade Tablet with Incised Bird Figure
Ritual ImplementsThe jade tablet is oblong and slightly curved in shape with irregular, geometric edges. The tablet is shown vertically and on a dark grey background. It is pale yellow in color with some orange coloration at the bottom. There are curved engraved lines on the piece that outline the shape of a bird that looks to the left. The lines on the bird swirl and are circular.
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
- 1943.50.232
- Title
- Notched Jade Tablet with Incised Bird Figure
- Classification
- Ritual Implements
- Work Type
- ornament
- Date
- 10th-9th century 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/204960
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
- Light yellowish brown, partly calcified, faintly translucent nephrite
- Dimensions
-
L. 8.4 x W. 3.2 x Thickness 0.5 cm (3 5/16 x 1 1/4 x 3/16 in.)
Weight 29 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. 331 by Max Loehr:
331 Notched Tablet with Incised Bird Figure
Light yellowish brown, partly calcified, faintly translucent jade in the shape of an irregular segment. On each side is the identical figure of a standing bird incised in double outlines and sloping cuts. The curvilinear flow of the bird design contrasts with the sharply defined hooks and notches of the outer contour. Late Western Chou.
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
- Accession Year
- 1943
- Object Number
- 1943.50.232
- 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. 331, p. 221
- Kristin A. Mortimer and William G. Klingelhofer, Harvard University Art Museums: A Guide to the Collections, Harvard University Art Museums and Abbeville Press (Cambridge and New York, 1986), no. 14, p. 22
- Jenny So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2019), pp. 130-32, cat. 14D
Exhibition History
- S427: Ancient Chinese Bronzes and Jades, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 10/20/1985 - 04/30/2008
- 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