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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.50.441
Title
Jade Openwork Plaque with Animal Mask
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
ornament
Date
475 BCE - 221 BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Zhou dynasty, Warring States period, 475-221 BCE
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/205057

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Light gray nephrite with bluish black specks
Dimensions
3.3 x 5.5 x 0.2 cm (1 5/16 x 2 3/16 x 1/16 in.)
unspecified: 7 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. 505 by Max Loehr:

505 Openwork Plaque with Animal Mask
Very thin plaque carved of light grey jade with bluish black specks. A snake-like head in the center is joined to two body bands that spread to the sides and terminate in S -shaped, pointed tails which double back upon the bands. A slightly wider band frames the head and, passing under the snake bodies, ends above in two volutes. The snake’s bodies are textured by finely engraved hooks and curves; the wider band, by claw-shaped elements with criss-cross filling. A perforation is placed below the snake’s head, piercing the nose. The reverse side is plain; in the depressions on the carved side are traces of cinnabar and earth. Late Eastern Chou.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.50.441
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. 505, p. 341
  • Jenny So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2019), p. 240, fig. 1

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