Object: Straight chisel (gui 圭) F1935.7a-d

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Maker(s): Calligrapher: Box cover inscribed by Yuan Lizhun 袁勵準 (1875-1936)

Historical period(s): Late Neolithic period, ca. 5000-ca. 1700 BCE

Object Date: ca. 5000-ca. 1700 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 17.9 x 4.2 x 1.4 cm (7 1/16 x 1 5/8 x 9/16 in)

Origin: Northwest China

Credit Line: Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1935.7a-d

: 圭
新石器時代晚期（公元前5000--1700年）
中國
軟玉
高17.9、寬4.2、厚1.4釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾基金捐購
器物編號：F1935.7

Provenance: Huang Jun (1888–1944), Beijing [1]

From at least 1934 to 1935
C. T. Loo & Company, New York from at least December 1, 1934 [2]

From 1935
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from C. T. Loo & Company, New York on February 2, 1935 [3]

Notes:

[1] Huang Jun, Guyu tulu chuji vol. 1, Beijing: Zunguzhai, 1939, pp. 6a b (ill.). The inscribed box cover published on p. 6b states that the jade had been acquired recently by Baichuan (a sobriquet for Huang Jun); the text was written by Yuan Lizhun (1877–1935).

[2] See "List of objects owned by C. T. Loo, New York and [left by him] at the Gallery for examination on December 1, 1934"; copy in object file.

[3] See C. T. Loo's invoice dated February 2, 1935; copy in object file.

Previous owner(s): Huang Jun 黃濬 (1888-1944)
C.T. Loo & Company (1914-1948)

Description: Ceremonial implement; one complete perforation and a partial perforation on each side; color: deep cream and soft light brown, with a few streaks of darker brown.

Acquired with a box, whose cover was inscribed by Yuan Lizhun 袁勵準 (1877–1935).

Past label text: 1. (Ancient Chinese Jade, September 4, 1980–March 6, 1981; by Julia K. Murray) (shown with F1917.57, F1917.34, F1917.31, F1915.69; additional jades organized by types shown in same case)

Based on a Neolithic stone tool whose blade is sharpened at the top, early jade chisels were ceremonial rather than utilitarian. The shape was retained in the jade repertoire in the Shang 商 and Chou [Zhou] 周 periods. The simple, elegant shape of a chisel is subtly embellished by smoothly ground edges, which are shown to advantage by the lustrous polish of the entire surface.

Most chisels have a single perforation, often drilled from one side only, resulting in a hole whose diameter is larger on one side of the piece. A second hole which was only partially drilled from both sides appears on this chisel. The shape of the incomplete hole indicates the use of a hollow tubular drill, perhaps a section of bone or bamboo.

Curatorial Remarks

1. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Bought from C. T. Loo, New York. For price, see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920.

2. (John Ellerton Lodge, 1941) Early Chou [Zhou] 周 dynasty or earlier.

3. (Archibald Gibson Wenley, 1946) Shang 商 dynasty.

4. (Julia K. Murray, 1980) Attribution changed from "Shang 商, ca. 1523–ca. 1028 BCE" to "Late Shang 商, 12th–11th century BCE."

5. (Julia K. Murray, 1982) For a general discussion of chisel shaped jades, see Folder Sheet F1917.31. In its thick proportions and slightly tapered shape, chisel F1935.7 resembles an example excavated from the 12th c. BCE tomb of Fu Hao 婦好; see M5:460 in Chung-kuo she-hui k’e-hsueh-yuan k’ao-ku yen-chiu-suo [Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo] 中國社會科學院考古研究所, Yin hsu Fu Hao mu [Yinxu Fuhao mu] 殷墟婦好墓 (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1980), color pl. 20:1. The archaistic F1917.28 resembles F1935.7 in also having a partially drilled hole on each side of the blade.

6. (Stephen Allee per Jenny So, Jade Project Database, June 11, 2008) Changed Period from "Shang 商 dynasty" to "Late Neolithic period;" changed Date from "12th–11th century BCE" to "ca. 2500–2000 BCE;" added Artist "Qijia 齊家 culture;" changed Object Name from "Weapon: gui 圭" to "Ceremonial object;" changed Title from "Ceremonial implement" to "Straight chisel (gui 圭);" added "Northwest" to Geographical Location; added Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database. Also added designation "nephrite" to Medium as per Elizabeth W. Fitzhugh in February 1956, as determined by x ray diffraction.

7. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 16, 2008) Ceremonial Object added as secondary classification.

8. (Stephen Allee, December 10, 2008) Added Previous Owner to Constituents: Ex collection Huang Jun 黃濬 (1880–1951); also added Calligrapher: Box cover inscribed by Yuan Lizhun 袁勵準 (1877–1935).

9. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, 22 February 2016) Quija culture removed as Maker. Object date changed from ca. 2500-2000 BCE to dates of the Late Neolithic period, ca. 5000-ca. 1700 BCE.

Published References

Benjamin Rowland, Laurence Sickman, H. G. Henderson, Robert Treat Paine, Richard Ettinghausen, Eric Schroeder. The University Prints. Oriental Art Series O 4 vols. Newton, Massachusetts, 1938-1941. Section 2: Early Chinese Art, pl. 107.
Yin-hsu Fu-Fao mu. Beijing, 1980. pl. 20.
J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
Huang Jun, (Preface) Fu Zengxiang. "古玉圖錄初集." Guyu tulu chuji [Illustrated Catalogue of Ancient Jades]. vol. 1, Beijing, 1939. pp. 6a-b.
Chang Wen-chi. "中国玉器歷代史." Chung-kuo yu ch'i li tai shih. Hong Kong, 1978. p. 87.

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Straight chisel (gui 圭)

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