id:			130939
accession number:	1953.628
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1953.628
updated:		2020-09-25 09:00:49.017000

Amulet in the Form of a Seated Figure with Bovine Head, c. 4700-2920 BC. Northeast China, Neolithic period, probably Hongshan culture (4700-2920 BC). Jade (nephrite); overall: 13.2 cm (5 3/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Severance A. Millikin 1953.628

title:				Amulet in the Form of a Seated Figure with Bovine Head
title in original language:	牛首玉人
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 4700-2920 BC
creation date earliest:		4710
creation date latest:		2910
current location:		241A Arts of Ancient China
creditline:			Gift of Severance A. Millikin
copyright:			

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culture:	Northeast China, Neolithic period, probably Hongshan culture (4700-2920 BC)
technique:	jade (nephrite)
department:	Chinese Art
collection:	China - Neolithic
type:		Jade
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 13.2 cm (5 3/16 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Primitive to Contemporary Sculpture
	opening date:   1956-09-06T04:00:00
	<i>Primitive to Contemporary Sculpture</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 6-October 31, 1956).

	title:		Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture
	opening date:   1975-09-24T04:00:00
	<i>Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (September 24-November 16, 1975).

	title:		Honoring Sherman Lee
	opening date:   2009-06-28T00:00:00
	<i>Honoring Sherman Lee</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 28-August 30, 2009).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* <em>Chinese Jade</em>. University of Pennsylvania, University Museum, Philadelphia, PA (November 30, 1962-February 3, 1963).

* <em>New Objects/New Insights: Cleveland's Recent Chinese Acquisitions</em>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 18-December 31, 1994).

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PROVENANCE

	John L. Severance [1863-1936], Cleveland, OH
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	Severance A. Millikin [1895-1985], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
	date: ?-1953
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 1953-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact: 
CMA daringly acquired this masterpiece without knowing exactly what it was. Only after Chinese archaeologists started excavating similar jades in Northeast China could it be attributed to the Hongshan culture.

digital description: 


wall description: 
With a bovine head and four horns, this seated figurine was a powerful ritual and shamanic symbol. Drill holes above its shoulders form two interconnected perforations for suspension, suggesting that the jade was originally used as a pendant, presumably by the shaman performing the tasks of journeying to and communicating with the supernatural realms.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	<em>Chinese Jad</em>e. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania [Museum], 1962.
	page number: 	no. 150
	url:		

	Wilson, J. Keith, and Anne E. Wardwell. "New Objects/New Insights: Cleveland's Recent Chinese Acquisitions." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art </em>81, no. 8 (1994): 270-347.
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 275; Mentioned: p. 275, 277, 346
	url:		https://www.jstor.org/stable/25161465

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1953.628/1953.628_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1953.628/1953.628_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1953.628/1953.628_full.tif