Thin Jade Scepter | Harvard Art Museums

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 1943.50.39
Title: Thin Jade Scepter
Classification: Ritual Implements
Work Type: scepter
Date: Longshan or Erlitou culture, c. 2000 BCE - c. 1700 BCE
Places: Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period: Neolithic period
Culture: Chinese
Persistent Link: https://hvrd.art/o/205252

Physical Descriptions

Medium: Black nephrite
Dimensions: 32 x 6.5 x 0.3 cm (12 5/8 x 2 9/16 x 1/8 in.)
unspecified: 77 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. 223 by Max Loehr:

223 Scepter
Extremely thin blade of black jade, resembling horn in substance and color when held against the light. The blade, similar in shape to No. 219, has a paper-thin upper edge and prongs, the tips of which are broken off. The upper face is hollow-ground. The reverse side shows a sharp, recurved, longitudinal saw-ledge that has not been worked off. Western Chou.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop

Accession Year

1943

Object Number

1943.50.39

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

THIS WORK MAY NOT BE LENT BY THE TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION TO THE HARVARD ART MUSEUMS.

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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. 223, pp. 172-173
Jenny So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2019), pp. 92-94, cat. 7B

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

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