Object: Dagger-axe (ge 戈), fragment reworked F1939.20

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Historical period(s): Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty, ca. 1250-ca. 1050 BCE

Object Date: ca. 1250-ca. 1050 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 3.3 × 11 × 0.3 cm (1 5/16 × 4 5/16 × 1/8 in)

Origin: China, probably Henan province, Anyang

Credit Line: Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1939.20

: 戈（殘損后另加工）
晚商安陽時期（公元前1250-1050年）
中國，疑似河南安陽市
軟玉
高3.4、寬10.9、厚0.4釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾基金捐購
器物編號：F1939.20

Provenance: As early as 1928
Reportedly discovered at archeological sites in Anyang, Honan Province, China [1]

?-1939
Zhang Naiji (1899-1948), Shanghai, China and New York, NY from at least February 1939 [2]

From 1939
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased through C. T. Loo & Company, New York from Zhang Naiji on April 17, 1939 [3]

Notes:

[1] According to information provided by Zhang Naiji to John E. Lodge at the time of acquisition, see J.E.Lodge's note, 1939, in object file. Zhang Naiji stated that he had obtained the jades, selected by the Freer Gallery from a group of about 350 pieces offered for sale (F1939.6-F1939.26 and F1939.28-F1939.33), at the places of their excavation. Lodge commented in his 1939 note: "I see no good reason to doubt [Zhang's] statement. I have, therefore, specified Shou Chou, or An-yang, or Lo-yang (Chin Ts'un) as the source of a piece in accordance with Mr. Chang's [Zhang's] designations given in my presence and recorded by me." Excavations at Anyang began in 1928.

[2] See note 1. See also "List of objects contemplated for purchase by Freer Gallery of Art," approved on February 1, 1939, Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List file, copy in object file. According to an annotation on the list, the purchase was made from C. T. Loo & Company, New York acting as agent for the owner and the payment was made on April 17, 1939. Zhang Naiji (also known as N.C. Chang) was a businessman, born to a prestigious family in Zhejiang that made their wealth in the silk and salt industries. He collected ancient Chinese art objects and Chinese coins. Zhang amassed his collection whilst living in Shanghai, before leaving for America in 1938. Zhang did not return to China until 1946. While the earliest documentation of Zhang's ownership of the jade dates to February 1939, we know that he acquired the objects in China before his departure.

[3] See "List of objects contemplated for purchase by Freer Gallery of Art," cited in note 2.

Previous owner(s): Zhang Naiji 張乃驥 (1899-1948)
C.T. Loo & Company (1914-1948)
C. T. Loo 盧芹齋 (1880-1957)

Description: Miniature curved blade (concave edge chipped; butt trimmed) of greenish white, translucent nephrite (?) with lilac spots; the two surfaces alike; one hole for suspension.

Past label text: Ancient Chinese Jade, September 4, 1980--March 6, 1981; by Julia K. Murray (shown with F1939.21, F1939.19, F1919.17, F1941.3, F1917.396, and F1919.13; additional chisels and ancestor tablets shown in same case)

The blade known as ko [ge], based on the shape of the metal dagger axe, is first found at the early Shang site at Erh li t'ou [Erlitou], Honan [Henan]. A ko [ge] consists of a long blade beveled to a sharp edge on the sides, usually with a median crest; a projecting crosspiece with a perforation at the base of the blade; and a narrower butt, or tang, which may be plain or ribbed. Ko [ge] blades display great variations in size, from miniature to enormous.

This variety of size is understandable in view of the fact that the jade blades were intended only for ceremonial and symbolic purposes, rather than for practical use. Small ko [ge] blades are occasionally mounted in bronze handles, usually adorned with inlaid turquoise.

2. (Keith Wilson, Anyang: China's Ancient City of Kings, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, February 25, 2023 to April 28, 2024)

Miniature dagger-axe
Anyang period,
ca. 1250–1050 BCE
Jade (nephrite)
Purchase—Charles Lang Freer
Endowment F1939.20

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought through C. T. Loo [Lu Qinzhai] 盧芹齋 and Company, New York, from Chang Nai chi [Zhang Naiji] 張乃驥. For price, see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920.

2. (John Ellerton Lodge, 1939) See Folder Sheet F1939.6, Paragraph 2.

3. (Undated Folder Sheet note) The trimming of the butt was certainly not done by the maker of the blade, and suggests, of course, that a raw edge due to fracture has been later smoothed by a less competent craftsman. Whether this blade was originally complete in itself or was part of something else (see the blade crested birds reproduced by Paul Pelliot, Jades Archaïques de Chine Appartenant a M. C. T. Loo [Paris et Bruxelles: G. van Oest, 1925], pls. VIII and XVII; and Alfred Salmony, Carved Jade of Ancient China [Berkeley, CA: Gillick Press, 1938], pl. XVIII: 1, 2, 3) cannot now be determined; but the hole for suspension, though anciently and very neatly drilled, does not seem to be part of the original design. In connection with the exquisite quality of the work, compare F1917.396, F1919.17, F1939.19, and F1941.3.

4. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 2.803.

5. (Julia K. Murray, 1980) Exhibition Ancient Chinese Jade label text; moved to label field.

6. (Julia K. Murray, 1982) For a general discussion of jade ko [ge] 戈, see Folder Sheet F1917.396.

Miniature ko [ge] 戈 like F1939.20 may have been used as pendants (see Folder Sheet F1979.33) and are often found in late Shang 商--early Western Chou [Zhou] 周 burials. Ko [ge] 戈 F1939.20 is similar to a curved blade excavated from Anyang 安陽 (Chung-kuo she-hui k'e-hsueh-yuan k'ao-ku yen-chiu-suo Anyang kung-tso-tui [Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo Anyang gongzuodui] 中國社會科學院考古研究所安陽工作隊, "1969--1977 nien Yin-hsu hsi-ch'u mu-tsang fa-chueh pao-kao [1969--1977 nian Yinxu xiqu muzang fajue baogao] 1969--1977年殷墟西區墓葬發掘報告," K'ao ku hsueh pao [Kaogu xuebao] 考古學報 1979.1, p. 101, fig. 76: 8), except the latter has a bird's head at the end of the tang, and the Freer ko [ge] 戈 does not have a bird's head or a clearly demarcated tang.

7. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, June 16, 2008) As per Jenny F. So, Jade Project Database, changed Date from "12th--11th century BCE" to "ca. 1600--ca. 1050 BCE." Also changed Object Name from "Miniature blade" to "Jewelry (pendant)"; changed Title from "Miniature curved blade" to "Curved knife pendant"; changed Medium from "Nephrite?" to "Jade (nephrite)" as per Conservation Record (1980). Added Previous Owner to Constituents (Zhang Naiji 張乃驥, 1897--1977). Added Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database.

8. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 17, 2008) Jewelry added as secondary classification.

9. (Stephen Allee, March 23, 2009) Added designation "nephrite" to Medium as per Janet Douglas using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (January 8, 2009).

10. (Stephen Allee, June 02, 2009) Corrected name of previous owner from Zhang Naiqi to Zhang Naiji 張乃驥 and added Chinese characters, as well as his life dates (1899--1948) and a brief biography. [Are his life dates 1897-1977 or 1899-1948 ?]

11. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, May 24, 2010) Changed object name from "Jewelry (pendant)" to "Jewelry."

12. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 17, 2017) Title changed from "Curved knife pendant" to "Dagger-axe (ge 戈), fragment reworked"; period changed from "Shang dynasty" to "Late Shang dynasty"; geography changed from "China" to "China, probably Henan province, Anyang"; date changed from "ca. 1600-ca. 1050 BCE" to "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE"; dimensions changed from "H x W x D: 10.9 x 3.4 x 0.4 cm (4 5/16 x 1 5/16 x 1/8 in)" to "H x W x D: 3.4 x 10.9 x 0.4 cm (1 5/16 x 4 5/16 x 1/8 in)"; object name changed from "Jewelry" to "Axe".

13. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, February 13, 2019) Added Chinese translation by Jingmin Zhang; removed the following from the description field, "1. Miniature curved blade. Greenish-white, translucent nephrite (?) with lilac spots. Concave edge chipped; butt trimmed." Added the following to the description field, "Miniature curved blade (concave edge chipped; butt trimmed) of greenish white, translucent nephrite (?) with lilac spots; the two surfaces alike; one hole for suspension." Also added past label text by Julia K. Murray.
14. (YinYing Chen per Keith Wilson, February 13, 2023) Change date from "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE" to "ca. 1250-1050 BCE." Change date from "公元前1300-1050年" to "公元前1250-1050年" in the translation field.

Published References

Paul Pelliot. Jades Archaiques de Chine appartenant a M.C.T. Loo. Paris and Brussels. pls. 8, 17.
Alfred Salmony. Carved Jade of Ancient China. Berkeley, 1938. pl. 18, nos. 1-3.
J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .

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Dagger-axe (ge 戈), fragment reworked

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