Object: Axe (yue 鉞) Axe (yue 鉞) with handle, masks (taotie), and cicadas F1941.4

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Historical period(s): early Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty, ca. 1200 BCE

Object Date: ca. 1200 BCE

Medium: Bronze with turquoise inlay and jade (nephrite) blade

Dimension(s): H x W x D (overall): 21.3 x 7.9 x 2.1 cm (8 3/8 x 3 1/8 x 13/16 in)

Origin: China, probably Henan province, Anyang

Credit Line: Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1941.4

: 鉞
晚商安陽時期（公元前1200年）
中國，疑似河南安陽市
青銅鑲嵌綠松石，軟玉刀片
高21.3、寬7.9、厚2.1釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾基金捐購
器物標號:F1941.4

Provenance: Reportedly excavated in Anyang, Henan province, China [1]

From 1940 to 1941
C. T. Loo & Company, New York from November 1940 [2]

From 1941
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from C. T. Loo & Company on March 20, 1941 [3]

Notes:

[1] According to John Lodge's curatorial remark, dated 1941, in object file.

[2] See C. T. Loo's stockcard no. 86949: "One grayish jade hatchet with a bronze handle with guard decorated in mosaic of turquoise inlay with mask designs. SHANG," C. T. Loo & Frank Caro Archive, Musée Guimet, Paris, copy in object file. The object was brought to the Freer Gallery for examination on November 13, 1940.

[3] See C. T. Loo's invoice, dated March 20, 1941, copy in object file.

Previous owner(s): C.T. Loo & Company (1914-1948)

Description: A ceremonial implement: The blade of mottled gray brown and white nephrite mounted in bronze closely inlaid with turquoise (four tiny bits missing); socket for vertical shafting; scattered malachite incrustations.

Past label text: 1. Ancient Chinese Bronzes, November 4, 2010–January 3, 2016; by Keith Wilson (shown with F1941.5 and F1940.10)

Chisel
China, Shang 商 dynasty, early Anyang 安陽 period, ca. 1300–1200 BCE
Bronze with turquoise inlay and jade (nephrite) blade

During the Neolithic period and early Bronze Age, ceremonial tools and weapons were created as symbols of power. The hafted axe and dagger axe forms are based on efficient bronze weapons mounted on shafts. The undecorated surface near the raised bar at the base of the dagger axes shows where the now missing handle would have been attached. Motifs of coiled dragons and animal masks on all four objects were rendered in cast raised lines. After the bronzes were removed from their casting molds, channels between the raised lines were meticulously fitted with turquoise. This extremely rare inlay technique is associated with bronze objects belonging to monarchs of the Shang 商 dynasty.

Possibly inspired by a functional chisel or small spade, this ceremonial tool has a jade blade that is fitted into a shallow slot at the base of the bronze handle. Corrosion extending from the bronze onto the jade surface proves these two parts have been together since antiquity. The turquoise inlay is almost completely intact, another indication this ornate chisel has changed very little over several millennia.

2. Afterlife: Ancient Chinese Jades, October 14, 2017–April 15, 2018; by Keith Wilson (shown with F1941.5 and F1940.10)

Axe
China, Shang 商 dynasty, early Anyang 安陽 period, ca. 1300–1200 BCE
Bronze with turquoise inlay and jade (nephrite) blades

Mixed Media
These eye-catching objects combine jade blades with turquoise-inlaid bronze mounts. Belonging exclusively to the highest classes of Shang 商 society, they conveyed power and status. Chips of turquoise held in place with resin or another natural adhesive were set in grooves cast in the bronze fittings, while jade blades were pinned in dedicated sockets.

A jade blade fits into a shallow slot at the base of this bronze handle. Corrosion extending from the bronze onto the jade surface proves these two parts have been together since antiquity. The turquoise inlay is nearly intact, another indication this ornate object has changed little over several millennia.

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

Dagger-axe with handle
Early Anyang period, ca. 1200 BCE
Bronze with turquoise inlay and
jade (nephrite) blade
Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment
F1940.10a–e

Dagger-axes
Early Anyang period, ca. 1200 BCE
Bronze with turquoise inlay and jade
(nephrite) blade or bronze with turquoise
inlay
Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment F1941.5
Gift of Arthur M. Sackler S1987.712
Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment F1950.9

Round axe
Anyang period, ca. 1250–1050 BCE
Jade (nephrite)
giFt oF eugene and agnes e. meyer F1968.48

Axe with handle
Early Anyang period, ca. 1200 BCE
Bronze with turquoise inlay and jade (nephrite) blade
Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment
F1941.4

Axe
Anyang period, ca. 1250–1050 BCE
Jade (nephrite)
Gift of Arthur M. Sackler S1987.673

Weapons for Show
War was a constant preoccupation for the early Anyang kings, and they regularly appealed to the gods and ancestors when raising armies and launching military campaigns. The infantry weapon of choice was a dagger-axe made of bronze that was fastened to a wooden handle typically about three feet in length. The bronze and jade weapons seen here, some richly inlaid with turquoise, were not intended for common foot soldiers; instead, they reflect the importance of ceremonial display at Anyang. These flashy weapons would have been suitable for a martial king like Wu Ding or one of his leading generals to brandish while presiding over rituals of human sacrifice involving enemy captives.

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought from C. T. Loo [Lu Qinzhai] 盧芹齋 and Company, New York. For price, see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920.

2. (John Ellerton Lodge, 1941) Jade blades mounted in bronze inlaid with turquoise have certainly been found at Anyang 安陽, and there seems to be no reason to doubt the report that this one was found there. As a rule, however, such blades, when mounted for vertical shafting, are lanceolate, and it is difficult to determine whether a square blade like this is derived from a weapon or some other sort of implement. At all events, the type must be rare. Adhering to one side of the blade is an irregular piece of what appears to be gesso on which are the remains of a design painted in red.

3. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, June 17, 2008) Changed Object Name from "Weapon: axe (fu 斧)" to "Ceremonial object"; changed Title from "Ritual Axe (Fu 斧)" to "Broad chisel." Added "turquoise" and designation "nephrite" to Medium as per Elisabeth West Fitzhugh, as determined by x-ray diffraction in February 1958. Added Dimensions (blade) per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database.

4. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 29, 2008) Primary classification: Metalwork; secondary classification: Ceremonial object.

5. (Label text by Keith Wilson for the exhibition of Ancient Chinese Jades and Bronzes, November 20, 2010) Date changed from ca. 12th century BCE to ca. 1300--1200 BCE; medium from "Bronze, turquoise, jade" to "Bronze with turquoise inlay and jade (nephrite) blade."

6. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 21, 2017) Title changed from "Broad chisel" to "Axe (yue 鉞)"; period one changed from "Shang dynasty" to "Late Shang dynasty"; geography changed from "China" to "China, probably Henan province"; and date changed from "ca. 1300-1200 BCE" to "ca. 1300-1050 BCE."

7. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, January 29, 2019) Added Chinese translation by Jingmin Zhang.
8. (YinYing Chen per Keith Wilson, February 10, 2023)
Change title from "Axe (yue 鉞)" to "Axe (yue 鉞) with handle, masks (taotie), and cicadas."
Change period from "Late Shang dynasty, Anyang period" to "Late Shang dynasty, early Anyang period."
Change date from "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE" to " ca. 1200 BCE." Change date from "公元前1300-1050年" to "公元前1200年" in the translation field.

Published References

Sekai bijutsu zenshu [A Complete Collection of World Art]. 40 vols., Tokyo, F1951-1953. cat. 84, vol. 2.
Umehara Sueji. Yin hsu: Ancient Capital of the Shang Dynasty at An-yang. Tokyo. pl. 37 (1).
Geoffrey WIlls. Jade of the East., 1st ed. New York, 1972. fig. 28.
J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
Cheng Te-k'un. Archaeology in China. 3 vols., Cambridge, England. vol 2: pp. 15, 295, vol. 2: pl. 35c.
Dagny Carter. Four Thousand Years of China's Art. New York. p. 19, a.
Rene Grousset. Chinese Art and Culture. New York. p. 22.
Joe Dan Lowry, Joe P. Lowry. Turquoise: The World Story of a Fascinating Gemstone. Layton, Utah. p. 26.
Charles Patrick Fitzgerald. The Horizon History of China. New York. p. 53.
Na Chih-liang. "玉器通史." Yu ch'i t'ung shih [A General Study of Chinese Jade]. Hong Kong, 1965. p. 77, fig. 103.
Compiled by the staff of the Freer Gallery of Art. A Descriptive and Illustrative Catalogue of Chinese Bronzes: Acquired During the Administration of John Ellerton Lodge. Oriental Studies Series, no. 3 Washington, 1946. p. 89, pl. 43.

SI Usage Statement

Usage conditions apply

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections..

Save this image | Request Permission | Terms of use

Axe (yue 鉞) Axe (yue 鉞) with handle, masks (taotie), and cicadas

Related Objects

Related Media

Web Resources