Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00041

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-18060

From personal ornamentation to funerary practice, from palace decoration to private devotion, jade has played a major role in Chinese social, cultural, and political life for millennia. Exploring the history of this revered stone through the esteemed Grenville L. Winthrop Collection at the Harvard Art Museums—which includes some of the finest examples of ancient and archaizing jades outside China—this volume explains how and why jade developed its special significance. In-depth entries on over one hundred objects present recent archaeological discoveries and new information garnered from conservation analysis, while Jenny So’s broad and engaging narrative not only elucidates the layered meanings of the objects and their iconography but also delves into the unique qualities of the material and the craftsmanship involved in quarrying and working jade.

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Author

PublisherHarvard Art Museums

Print publication date March 2019 (in print)

Print ISBN 9780300237023

EISBN 9780300247794

Illustrations 283

Print Status in print

Publisher (in print)

WorldCat

Google Books

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List of illustrations

Silver, gold, and bronze medals, with jade insets, from the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing
Jadeite incense burner
Jade gatherers along the riverbed of Yurungkash (White Jade River) in modern Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region
Nephrite brush holder
Sandstone drill bit, Hanshan Lingjiatan M23, Anhui province
Jade workers at their stations in a modern workshop in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, June 2017
Micrograph showing one nephrite crystal, at 14,000× magnification
Micrograph showing interfelted crystal bundles.
Multiple lines from abrasion create the curved details on 1943.50.135
Jade disk showing unfinished design at the edge, Yangzhou Hanjiang, Jiangsu province
Hexagonal grid and mounds showing pattern of overlapping lines on a bi-disk
Hexagonal grid and mounds with profile showing the topography of a bi-disk
Hexagonal grid with inscribed curl on a bi-disk
Profile of mounds and incised curls on a bi-disk
Side view of curls on a bi-disk
Top view of curls on a bi-disk
Pattern of curls on huang segment
Side view of curls on huang segment
Remnants of hexagonal grid lines on an ornate disk
Remnants of hexagonal grid lines on a bi-disk
Color-enhanced image showing the square grid on a glass bi-disk
Drawing illustrating S-twist on fluted ring
Drawing illustrating Z-twist on fluted ring
Ring with S-twist at top of lid on container
Outer ring with Z-twist on mirror
Feathery alteration on a bi-disk: white band on green jade
Feathery alteration on a bi-disk: detail of crystals in white band
Textile imprint on a blade, detail
Textile pseudomorph on a bronze dagger axe
Brown iron-staining along microfractures on a disk
Green copper staining on a bi-disk
X-radiographs of a composite jade hook showing corroded iron core and interior void.
X-radiographs of a composite jade hook showing corroded iron core and interior void.
X-radiograph of a broken composite jade belt hook showing different mechanisms joining segments within each section
X-radiograph of a broken composite jade belt hook showing different mechanisms joining segments within each section
Gold over jade inset on belt hook
Textile pseudomorph and mineralized wood over jade on underside of belt hook
Detail of textile pseudomorph over jade on underside of belt hook
Original edges of gold adjacent to jade on belt hook (1943.52.61)
Cut edges of gold adjacent to jade on belt hook (1943.52.61)
Diagram showing original versus cut edges of gold adjacent to jade on belt hook (1943.52.61)
Back of belt hook (1943.52.61) in normal light
Back of belt hook (1943.52.61) in ultraviolet light showing fills and accretions
Belt hook (1943.52.60) with three oval jades in gold
Belt hook (1943.52.60); middle jade surrounded by modern fill
Gold belt hook with silver cowrie-shell insets
X-radiograph of mirror showing cast-in decoration and repaired cracks in bronze below the glass and jade
Ultraviolet light image of mirror showing the orange fluorescence indicating adhesive at the joins between different components on the decorated back
Synthetic green pigment applied over the join between the outer jade ring and the bronze mirror to imitate corrosion on the mirror
Junction of outer jade ring and glass ring showing the sharp boundary where the inner side of the jade ring was cut and ground flat to fit against the blue glass ring
Back-scattered electron image of cat. 49 showing corrosion and pitting of lead-barium glass in the outer glass ring; the white areas have higher lead content than the gray areas.
X-radiograph of a horse head showing the deep mounting hole and fills
X-radiograph of a horse head showing the deep mounting hole and fills
X-radiograph of a horse head showing the deep mounting hole, fills, and modern screw
X-radiograph of a horse head showing the deep mounting hole, fills, and modern screw
Images of horse head with visible light
Image of horse head with ultraviolet light showing fluorescence of organic materials applied to the surface
Baked-mud pregnant female figure, Kazuo Dongshanzui, Liaoning province
Drawing of stone mounds at Site II, Jianping Niuheliang, Liaoning province
Stone-cist burial showing seven jades in situ, Site V, M1, Jianping Niuheliang, Liaoning province
Jade tortoise shell from Site II, Sector 1, M21, Jianping Niuheliang, Liaoning province
Burial with jade and stone artifacts in situ
Jade disk with multidirectional curved slice marks
Jade bracelet with mask image
View of graves on top of Yaoshan, 1987
Jade cong
Jade cong, detail of man-animal motif
Drawing showing jade cong in situ, Wujin Sidun M3, Jiangsu province
Fragment of a jade knife
Drawing of jade blades in sacrificial pit
Multiple jade bracelets in situ on arm of a buried individual
Drawing of a jade blade fragment showing kneeling figure with forked blade
Curved cuff-like ornament with grooved design
Jade headdress ornament (?)
Low cylindrical bracelet with eight animal-mask motifs
Jade bracelet, reportedly from Henan province, Neolithic Liangzhu culture.
Low cylindrical jade bracelet with concave wall, southeast Neolithic
Squared cylinder (cong) with human-face motifs on 5.5 registers, Yangzi delta–Lake Tai region, Liangzhu context
Detail of half-register at top: Squared cylinder (cong) with human-face motifs on 5.5 registers, Yangzi delta–Lake Tai region, Liangzhu context
Squared cylinder (cong) with human-face motifs on 5.5 registers, detail
Jade bi-disk, southeast Neolithic
Jade axe-blade, southeast Neolithic
Jade ornamental combtop
Slice of a jade congcylinder
Staff finial (?)
Stone staff finial (damaged)
Cicada ornament
Curved tiger ornament
Jade columnar eagleshaped finial or hair ornament, Shijiahe communities, middle Yangzi valley
Jade “demonic” face ornament, Shijiahe communities, middle Yangzi valley
Disk with ancient repair
Trapezoidal knife with three holes
Trapezoidal knife with three holes
Photograph and drawing of repaired jade disk, Minhe Lajia, Qinghai province
Jade knife-blade, damaged
Forked blade (zhang)
Forked blade (zhang)
Tapering tablet (gui)
Jade tablet with human image
Arm or wrist ornament with notched and serrated profiles
Arm or wrist ornament with notched and serrated profiles
Jade arm or wrist ornament constructed from three arc-segments
Jade notched arm ornament
Map showing Erlitou palace compound (Area V) with locations of bronze-casting and turquoise workshops (Area IV)
Soapstone bird-man figure with three-link chain
Rubbing of variscite human head plaque
Faceted jade/stone disk-axe
Jade tablet showing horizontal discolored line at base
Crested bird
Funerary shroud with turquoise dragon, Erlitou palace compound (VM3)
Cylindrical bracelet
Wrist or arm ornament with wide flange
Jade Collared Disk
Fish pendant, Yellow River basin
Drawing of three-step process in shaping a flanged bracelet
Disk-axe
Rectangular axe-blade with serrated edges, Yellow River basin
Ge-halberd blade with straight notched shoulder
Attenuated ge-halberd blade with extended tang
Ge-halberd blade with turquoise-inlaid bronze tang
Ge-blade with crenulated tang, Yellow River basin
Small ge-blade with serrated shoulder, Yellow River basin
Ge-blade with deeply notched shoulder, upper Yangzi valley
Ge-halberd blade with geometric design and inscription
Ancestor or spirit tablet (?)
Ancestor or spirit tablet (?)
Ancestor or spirit tablet (?)
Curved tablet or finial
Curved bird-shaped finial, Late Shang period
Drawing of jade tablet with turquoise-embellished casing, Baoji Rujiazhung M1, Shaanxi province
Flared tubular bead
Flared tubular bead with mask motifs
Curved engraving tool (?) shaped after a dragon with bottle-horn
Large buffalo-head fitting
Scoop
Pigment container with buffalo-head handle
Bronze buffalo-shaped pigment container
Matching set of jade cong-bi from sacrificial pit, Fufeng, Shaanxi province
Drawing of jade human figure, Jianping Niuheliang M16, Liaoning province
Rubbing of jade human figure, Hanshan Lingjiatan M29, Anhui province
Jade standing horse, Tianma-Qucun M63, Shanxi province
Jade, agate, and faience multi-arc chain, trapezoidal plaque with beaded strings, and ge-blade in situ, Tianma-Qucun M31
Drawing of jade and agate short collar in situ, Sanmenxia M2012, Henan province
Undecorated cong-squared cylinder
Standing figure with hands meeting at the abdomen (finial)
Standing figure with hands meeting at the abdomen (finial)
Standing figure in long robe and high headdress
Rubbing of a jade figural finial, Anyang M5, Henan province
Slender jade figural finial
Seated bald figure
Seated bear (amulet?)
Seated bear (amulet?)
Tortoise (amulet?)
Hare (amulet?)
Recumbent bear
Buffalo
Wild hare
Pendant ornament: bird with thick tail
Pendant ornament: arched fish
Pendant ornament: silkworm with leg
Bird ornament with three-pronged crest
Bird ornament with extended tail
Arc-shaped fish ornament
Neck ornament with jade fish and silkworm pendants, Yicheng Dahekou M2, Shanxi province
Beaker with bird-shaped handles
Earthenware beaker with large bird-shaped handles
Bronze beaker with large openwork handles, Chang’an Zhangjiapo
Wooden beaker with large curvilinear handles in situ, Yicheng Dahekou, Shanxi province
Turquoise-inlaid ivory beaker with bird-shaped handle, Anyang M5, Henan province
Component for pendant assemblage: arc pendant
Component for pendant assemblage: two arc-pendant
Components for pendant assemblages: two bundled sheaf-shaped spacer plaques
Component for pendant assemblages: trapezoidal spacer plaque
Component for pendant assemblages: necklace closure plaque
Six-arc chain strung with jade, carnelian, and faience, Tianma-Qucun M31, Shanxi province
Mask-shaped closure plaque
Dragon-bird closure plaque
Rubbing of jade tiger pendant, Xichuan Xiasi M1, Henan province
Drawing of lacquered wooden figure with painted pendants, Xinyang Changtaiguan M2, Henan province
Rubbing of jade pendant assemblage, Nanyue Wang burial, Guangzhou, Guangdong province
Jade dagger with fitted gold sheath, Hancheng Liangdaicun M27, Shaanxi province
Four sets of jade fittings for iron swords, Nanyue Wang burial, Guangzhou, Guangdong province
Broken jade dragon pendant repurposed with gold hook, Nanyue Wang burial, Guangzhou, Guangdong province
Rubbing of an unfinished jade ring with large dragon head motifs
Drawing of linked chain ornament, Zeng Hou Yi burial, Suizhou Leigudun, Hubei province
Mechanical join on chain, detail
Small bronze and stone fish and bell pendant weights for funerary parasol in situ, Hancheng Liangdaicun M28, Shaanxi province
Rubbing of funerary face cover with jade components, Sanmenxia M2001, Henan province
Wide arc with raised comma motifs
U-shaped arc with dragon heads
Narrow semicircular arc with dragon heads
Rectangular plaque with dragon head and bird tail
Loose S-shaped plaque with dragon head and bird tail
Strongly curved plaque with dragon head and small bird head at tail
Squarish plaque with dragon head and curled extensions
Drawing of a reconstructed pendant set from Qufu M58, Shandong province
A pair of S-shaped dragon plaques with dense curled extensions
Triangular feline plaque
Triangular feline plaque
A pair of large feline plaques
Drawing of dragon plaques in situ, Luoyang Xigong District (C1M3943)
Slender fish-like pendant
Vertical long-tailed feline pendant
Arc-shaped dragon-head pendant
Drawing of pendant configuration from an imperial consort’s tomb in Xi’an, Shaanxi province
Narrow ring with molded mask and overlapping patterns
Disk with two concentric zones of plain and plastic curls
Disk with concentric zones of plastic curls and openwork dragon motifs
Disk with fine curls in grid arrangement
Tapering rectangular bead with dragon heads
Two narrow rectangular beads with relief dragon heads
Barrel-shaped bead with raised curls
Kneeling figure in the round
Acrobats
Standing lady with “bow” at neck
Bird with snakes in beak and claws
Heraldic bird with object in beak
Drawing of half of miniature lacquered wooden screen, Jiangling Wangshan (M2)
Bird-shaped pendant component, purportedly from Luoyang Jincun
Bird-shaped pendant component with leaf-shaped appendage
Jar-shaped pendant component
Two small linked disks with openwork corner ornaments
Linked feline and bird ornament
Oval plaque
Openwork plaque with flat serpentine head
Narrow ring with spiral fluting
Belt hook
Belt hook
Archer’s thumb ring with raised commas
Archer’s thumb ring
Archer’s thumb ring, reportedly from Luoyang Jincun
Archer’s thumb ring with bird-shaped hook
Archer’s thumb ring pendant
Drawing of jade archer’s thumb ring pendant from Jianzhong village, Nanjing
Sword guard
Scabbard slide
Pair of straight fish pendants
Group of 4 triangular bird pendants
Group of 9 rectangular plaques
Jade rhyton drinking cup, Nanyue Wang burial, Guangzhou, Guangdong province
Rubbing of upright jade dragon plaque, Xuzhou Shizishan, Jiangsu province
Drawing of tomb contents showing bi-disk at head, Jiangling Wangshan M2, Hubei province
Drawing of tomb contents showing distribution of bi-disks, Linzi Shangwangcun M1, Shandong province
Jade cup and bronze basin, Nanyue Wang burial, Guangzhou
Group of five jade sculptures, Xianyang Weiling, Shaanxi province
Large disk with inscription around edge
Large disk with inscription around edge
Detail of part of rubbing of inscription around edge of large disk
Wooden back panel of cat. 38B showing gold-filled inscription
Large disk
Large disk
Large disk
Jade disk with crisscross ties, Dingtao, Shandong province
Cicada
Cicada
Two oval earcups with incised geometric designs and openwork crescent-shaped handles
Two oval earcups with incised geometric designs and openwork crescent-shaped handles (undersides)
Oval earcup with crescent-shaped handles
Earcup
Covered container with gilt-bronze mounts
Horse head
Horse head
Jade horse head with insertion tab, Tomb of Duke Jing of Qin, Fengxiang, Shaanxi province
Jade standing horse, Qufu M3, Shandong province
Jade dragon-head fitting with view of underside, Xi’an, Shaanxi province
Disk with animals of the four directions
Sliced and broken jade S-dragon plaques, Xuzhou Shizishan, Jiangsu province
Nested rock crystal and jade coffin-shaped containers for sarira (crystal lid open), Famen Temple, Fufeng, Shaanxi province
Archaistic jade gui-tablet with raised knobs, Liangzhuang Wang burial, Zhongxiang, Hubei province
Jade floral hair-knot ornament
Carved mountain: Sage King Yu Controlling the Flood (Da Yu zhishui yushan)
Archaistic vessel in shape of bronze gong
Gui-tablet with the Twelve Auspicious Symbols and inscription
Hair-knot ornament with archaistic motifs and pin
The Transformation of Laojun (detail)
Disk with dragons in high relief and raised dots in grid
Disk with dragons in high relief and raised dots in grid
Scabbard slide with dragons in high openwork relief
Scabbard slide
Cylindrical cup with ring handle and three short feet (zhi)
Mirror
Fragmentary bronze mirror with blue glass-bead inlays, Luoyang (C1M3943), Henan province

Free

Contents

Contents

Author

PublisherHarvard Art Museums

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00041.001

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-18061

Free

Foreword

Martha Tedeschi

Foreword

Author

Martha Tedeschi

PublisherHarvard Art Museums

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00041.002

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-18062

Preface and Acknowledgments

Free

The idea for a history of early Chinese jades came to me when I began to delve into the exceptional and complementary collections of the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, soon after I arrived there as a curator in 1990. Thomas Lentz, then the galleries’ deputy director, supported the project from the...

Author

PublisherHarvard Art Museums

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00041.003

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-18063

Free

Note to Reader

All Winthrop objects under consideration here are held in the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard Art Museums; in an effort to save space, this information has been omitted from captions and tombstones, although the objects’ unique accession numbers have been included. Unless otherwise noted, it can safely be assumed that the object under discussion is from...

Author

PublisherHarvard Art Museums

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00041.004

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-18064

1. Jade in Nature

Jade production began in China over seven millennia ago (C. 5000 BCE), yielding by far the largest body of intricately crafted jade artifacts created by any single civilization. While other jade-working cultures in India, New Zealand, and Central and North America have come and gone, China’s jade-working industry continues even today; few artistic traditions can...

Author

PublisherHarvard Art Museums

Related print edition pages: pp.17-25

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00041.005

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-18065

Chapter subject tags:Jade art objects--China--HistorySculpture, prehistoricJade--ChinaPrehistoric peoples--China

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2. Jade in the Lab

Katherine Eremin and Angela Chang and Ariel O’Connor

How did the chemical and mineralogical qualities of jade affect the manufacturing techniques used to make ancient Chinese jade objects? How have these factors influenced the changes that they have endured over time? What evidence is now available to us about jade working and the history of...

Author

Katherine Eremin and Angela Chang and Ariel O’Connor

PublisherHarvard Art Museums

Related print edition pages: pp.29-47

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00041.006

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-18066

Chapter subject tags:Jade art objects--China--HistoryJade CarvingJade--China

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3. Meeting Nature’s Challenge: Jade in Prehistoric China (c. 4000–2000 BCE)

Neolithic inhabitants of China were shaping small personal ornaments and tools in nephrite, agate, and other hard stones no later than the sixth and fifth millennia (6000–4000 BCE). By the fourth millennium (C. 4000–3000 BCE), nephrite production had emerged in the...

Author

PublisherHarvard Art Museums

Related print edition pages: pp.49-99

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00041.007

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-18067

Chapter subject tags:Jade art objects--China--HistoryJade--ChinaJade carving, PrehistoricSculpture, PrehistoricFuneral rites and ceremonies--China--HistoryExcavations (Archaeology)--China

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4. Arrival of a New Competitor: Jade in an Age of Bronze (c. 2000–1200 BCE)

Toward the beginning of the second millennium BCE, a new material arrived for the production of ritual and associated objects that significantly changed the social, cultural, and technological landscape of ancient China. Metal was introduced, with its attendant range of working techniques, perhaps first as simply...

Author

PublisherHarvard Art Museums

Related print edition pages: pp.101-140

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00041.008

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-18068

Chapter subject tags:Jade--ChinaJade carving, PrehistoricBronze age studiesExcavations (Archaeology)--ChinaJade art objects--ChinaFuneral rites and ceremonies--China--History

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5. Legacies and Interventions: Jade in the Early Historical Periods (c. 1200–800 BCE)

After what appears to have been a lull in Jade production along the lower Yellow River basin during the mid-second millennium BCE, jade working experienced a renewed vitality with the relocation of the Shang capital to Anyang around 1300 BCE. Regardless of the political implications of this move...

Author

PublisherHarvard Art Museums

Related print edition pages: pp.145-182

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00041.009

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-18069

Chapter subject tags:Bronze age studiesJade art objects--China--HistoryJade carving, PrehistoricExcavations (Archaeology)--ChinaFuneral rites and ceremonies--China--History

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6. Symbol of Moral Virtue: Jade in Times of Crisis (c. 800–300 BCE)

The ethnically non-Zhou groups who wore the elaborately strung regalia discussed in the previous chapter became a real threat when the Zhou court’s control of their...

Author

PublisherHarvard Art Museums

Related print edition pages: pp.185-260

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00041.010

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-18070

Chapter subject tags:Jade art objects--China--HistoryBronze age studiesJade carving, PrehistoricExcavations (Archaeology)--ChinaFuneral rites and ceremonies--China--History

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7. Agents for Immortality: Jade in Early Imperial China (c. 300–1 BCE)

The third century BCE saw centuries of conflict and unrest coming to a head as the two largest contending polities—Qin in the west and Chu in the south—began closing in on the Zhou domain in Luoyang, and on each other. At the same time, competing schools of thought emerged, each proposing...

Author

PublisherHarvard Art Museums

Related print edition pages: pp.263-298

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00041.011

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-18071

Chapter subject tags:Jade art objects--China--HistoryJade carvingFuneral rites and ceremonies--China--History

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8. Epilogue: Immortal Jades

The foregoing chapters have described in broad strokes the history of China’s jade-working industry from Neolithic times to the early centuries CE. This chapter is intended to serve as both an epilogue to the history charted in these chapters and a brief introduction to the subsequent two millennia, a story perhaps better told through the later jades in the Ernest B. and...

Author

PublisherHarvard Art Museums

Related print edition pages: pp.303-328

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00041.012

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-18072

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