1943.50.346: Jade Dragon Silhouette in Openwork
Ritual ImplementsIdentification and Creation
- Object Number
- 1943.50.346
- Title
- Jade Dragon Silhouette in Openwork
- 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/205012
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Opaque light brown, partly calcified nephrite
- Dimensions
-
7.6 x 1.7 x 0.3 cm (3 x 11/16 x 1/8 in.)
unspecified: 6 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. 437 by Max Loehr:
437 Dragon Silhouette in Openwork
Opaque light brown, partly calcified jade, wrought into the astonishingly delicate design of a dragon figure. The head differs in several features from the pieces described earlier: the muzzle is rendered as an openwork loop; the lower jaw shows an incredibly thin, curved fang that meets the tongue. A clawed leg touches the jaw at two points. A curved wing(?) swings around the volute that marks the shoulder joint and then curves back above the body, rejoining it as a pointed curl. Adjacent to this curl is a second wing-like element that cuts diagonally across the body, ending in a small openwork hook. The rear part of the dragon’s body tapers toward an elegant, fin-like cleft tail. The borders are slightly raised; the surfaces are plain except for sparingly applied double curves and a tiny cross-hatched umbel. 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
- 1943.50.346
- 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.
The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.
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. 437, p. 299
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