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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.50.351
Title
Jade 'Huang' Segment
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
pendant
Date
c. 11th cent. BCE - 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/205014

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Evenly dark brown, faintly translucent nephrite
Dimensions
10.3 x 2.7 x 0.3 cm (4 1/16 x 1 1/16 x 1/8 in.)
unspecified: 22 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. 630 by Max Loehr:

630 Huang Segment
Evenly dark brown, faintly translucent and rather soft stone in the shape of a disk segment. The back is plain while the front is decorated with a symmetrical composition of dragon heads with vaguely defined bodies. The heads are made to resemble Western Chou types as seen, for instance, on tablets Nos. 243 and 244. In the present case, however, such designs were evidently misunderstood and what would have been the long, comma-shaped tongue is here reduced to a meaningless series of curls which lie along the outer arc of the segment. The lines that would have depicted the back of the head instead stream off toward the outer top corners. The two horseshoe-shaped motifs that enclose circles are adapted from motifs similar to that seen in No. 243. The rest of the lines, presumably relating to the animals’ bodies, are organically incoherent. The nature of the design suggests that the artisan had only a partial understanding of his models. The technique of double and single lines, reminiscent of Western Chou carving techniques, betrays a uniformity and harshness; similarly, the crenelation of the outer contours seems relatively mechanical. The piece is probably of recent date, a rather free and by no means distasteful adaptation of ancient forms.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.50.351
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. 630, p. 433

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