id:			97491
accession number:	1917.1057
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1917.1057
updated:		2022-01-04 14:41:32.834000

Comma-shaped Jade, AD 400s. Korea, Three Kingdoms period (57 BC-668). Jade; overall: 8 x 4.9 x 3.1 cm (3 1/8 x 1 15/16 x 1 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1917.1057

title:				Comma-shaped Jade
title in original language:	곱은 옥 (曲玉)
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			AD 400s
creation date earliest:		400
creation date latest:		499
current location:		236 Korean
creditline:			Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust
copyright:			

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culture:	Korea, Three Kingdoms period (57 BC-668)
technique:	jade
department:	Korean Art
collection:	Korean Art
type:		Jewelry
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 8 x 4.9 x 3.1 cm (3 1/8 x 1 15/16 x 1 1/4 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		The Other Side of the Story - Korean Gallery 236 Rotation
	opening date:   2020-10-30T04:00:00
	<i>The Other Side of the Story - Korean Gallery 236 Rotation</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (October 27, 2020-April 25, 2021).

	title:		Interpretation of Materiality: Gold (Korean art rotation)
	opening date:   2021-04-29T04:00:00
	<i>Interpretation of Materiality: Gold (Korean art rotation)</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 29-October 24, 2021).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	(Yamanaka and Company, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
	date: ?-1917
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 1917-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact: 
This unique shaped jade was used as a pendant to decorate necklaces, eyerings, and crowns during the Three Kingdoms period.

digital description: 
Jade is one of the hardest stones and requires an intensive, arduous process of abrasion—cutting, chiseling, grinding, and polishing—to achieve the desired shape. A grindstone and a slurry of grit and water shape the jade into the desired form, and then a cloth dampened and rubbed with finer grit may have been used to give the jade the smooth surface. For the Silla kingdom (57 BC–985), in particular, comma-shaped jades served as an essential item for the burials of the ruling class and were luxurious accessories to decorate golden crowns. Their comma shape is thought to represent embryonic forms, symbolizing life, particularly rebirth in the afterlife.

wall description: 

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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	<em>Golden Splendors: the Royal Tomb of Silla Hwangnamdaechong</em> [황남대총: 황금의 나라 신라의왕릉]. Seoul: National Museum of Korea, 2010.
	page number: 	
	url:		

	Kim, Yang-dong. “ A cultural examination of the origin and symbol of comma-shaped jades of ancient Korea [고대 한국 曲玉의 기원과 상징에 대한 문화사적 검토].” <em>Silla sahakbo </em>25 (2012): 401-436.
	page number: 	
	url:		https://www.dbpia.co.kr/journal/articleDetail?nodeId=NODE02441742

	Lee, Soyoung, and Denise Patry Leidy. <em>Silla: Korea's Golden Kingdom</em>. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2013.
	page number: 	
	url:		

	Nelson, Sarah. <em>Gyeongju: The Capital of Golden Silla</em>. Routledge, 2019.
	page number: 	
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1917.1057/1917.1057_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1917.1057/1917.1057_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1917.1057/1917.1057_full.tif