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Comma-shaped Jade

400s CE

The Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States

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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  • Title: Comma-shaped Jade
  • Date Created: 400s CE
  • Physical Dimensions: Overall: 7.3 x 3.9 x 2.5 cm (2 7/8 x 1 9/16 x 1 in.)
  • Provenance: (Yamanaka and Company, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Type: Jewelry
  • Rights: CC0
  • External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1917.1056
  • Medium: glass
  • Fun Fact: This unique shaped jade was used as a pendant to decorate necklaces, earrings, and crowns during the Three Kingdoms period.
  • Department: Korean Art
  • Culture: Korea, Three Kingdoms period (57 BCE–668 CE)
  • Credit Line: Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust
  • Collection: Korean Art
  • Accession Number: 1917.1056
The Cleveland Museum of Art

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