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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.50.426.A
Title
Jade Fish-Bird (one of a pair)
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
pendant
Date
possibly 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/205046

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Translucent, light gray-green nephrite with fine black veins
Dimensions
4.3 x 1.3 x 0.3 cm (1 11/16 x 1/2 x 1/8 in.)
unspecified: 3 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. 295 by Max Loehr:

295 Pair of Fish-Birds
Translucent, light grey-green jade with fine black veins. The small, roughly rectangular slabs, elaborately carved on one side only (right and left sides, respectively), are shaped as composite creatures. There heads suggest birds, as many their striated short tails, while their backs carry dorsal fins. Their forelegs and spiral shoulder joints, however, are neither avine nor piscine, and the adjoining pointed projection, marked by a larger spiral, is an organically nondescript part. The back is plain except for the head and fin. There is a small perforation at the thinned forepart of each beak. Western Chou(?).

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.50.426.A
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. 295a, p. 207

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