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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.50.231
Title
Fragment of a Large Jade Bird Figure
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
ornament
Date
16th cent. BCE - 10th cent. BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Shang dynasty (c. 1600-c. 1050 BCE) to Western Zhou period (c. 1050-771 BCE)
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/205035

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Light sea-green, translucent nephrite with sparse light brown markings
Dimensions
8 x 4 x 0.6 cm (3 1/8 x 1 9/16 x 1/4 in.)
unspecified: 42 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. 127 by Max Loehr:

127 Fragment of a Large Bird Figure
Light sea-green, translucent jade with sparse light brown markings. Above the head, which is characterized by a nose-like beak, is a striated band resembling hair, topped by a symmetrical set of large notches. At the back of these notches is a fractured, downward-pointing hook. Depressions around the eyes, volutes terminating the beak, joined crescents suggesting the plumage, the volutes of the wings and those at the top of the sturdy legs, and the grooves on the wings and tail complete the design. The details are executed with broad, sloping cuts. There are fractures at the feet, the back of the tail, and at the protuberance above the tip of the wings; also fractured below the head. Shang or early Western Chou.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.50.231
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. 127, p. 115

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