Collection record · Small worlds
Comma-shaped Jade
The collection record classifies this work as jewelry. It is dated 400s CE. Recorded culture or place: Korea, Three Kingdoms period (57 BCE–668 CE).
Explore the object recordOBJECT RECORD
A closer look at the details.
- Museum title
- Comma-shaped Jade
- Date
- 400s CE
- Culture / origin
- Korea, Three Kingdoms period (57 BCE–668 CE)
- Materials and technique
- jade
- Dimensions
- Overall: 8 x 4.9 x 3.1 cm (3 1/8 x 1 15/16 x 1 1/4 in.)
- Artist / maker
- Not specified by the museum
- Museum
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession number
- 1917.1057
FROM THE MUSEUM
In the museum’s words
The following description is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s original English record.
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.
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Text and image sources
The Cleveland Museum of Art · Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust · CC0
The summary is based on public collection data. Refer to the museum’s latest record for the title, date and attribution.
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