A jade sculpture of a short, round cicada. The top is curved with carved lines to detail the head and antennas. The middle and bottom have carved lines that make downward facing points. The bottom comes to a point. It is light brown in color with some lighter spots.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

A jade sculpture of a short, round cicada. The image is shown with the sculpture lying flat and head pointing upward. The top is curved with carved lines to detail the head and antennas. The middle and bottom have carved lines that make downward facing points and curved lines to detail the wings. The bottom comes to a point. It is light brown in color with some lighter spots.

Gallery Text

During the Warring States and Han periods, jades functioned not only as ritual and burial items, but also as objects of personal adornment for the living. Other luxury materials, such as gold, bronze, and glass began to be incorporated with jades with greater frequency.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.50.280
Title
Jade Cicada in the Round
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
ornament
Date
3rd century BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Han dynasty, Western Han period, 206 BCE-9 CE
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/205064

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
Highly polished, translucent yellowish and opaque cream-colored nephrite
Dimensions
H. 2.8 x W. 1.7 x D. 0.9 cm (1 1/8 x 11/16 x 3/8 in.)
Weight 6 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. 367 by Max Loehr:

367 Cicada in the Round
Highly polished, translucent yellowish and opaque cream-colored jade. The insect is carved and incised with minute care, quite realistically, yet with a sense of elegant form. Seen from above, its shape is ogival; the wings meet in a sharp crest, and their oblique planes are incised with two feather-like outlines filled with staggered pairs of concentric curves. Between the head and the body runs a narrow band of slanting striations. The eyes stand out on both sides. On the convex underside are indicated, by fine incisions, feet and belly. A hole is drilled through the length of the body. Eastern Chou(?).

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.50.280
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. 367, p. 247

Exhibition History

  • 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