Object: Dagger-axe (ge 戈) with handle, masks (taotie), and cicadas F1941.5

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): 10.6 × 41.9 × 0.9 cm (4 3/16 × 16 1/2 × 3/8 in)

Origin: China, probably Henan province, Anyang

Credit Line: Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1941.5

: 戈
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10.6、寬41.9、厚0.9釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾基金捐購
器物標號:F1941.5

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

From 1940 to 1941
C. T. Loo & Company, New York from October 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. 86942: "Jade knife with bronze handle. One large jade KU with plain bronze handle inlayed with turquoise with designs of birds and an animal mask near the guard. An Yang Shang," C. T. Loo & Frank Caro Archive, Musée Guimet, Paris, copy in object file. The object was brought by Loo 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: Ceremonial weapon of the type ko [ge] 戈. The blade of mottled warm gray and white nephrite (stained by burial) mounted in bronze inlaid with turquoise (one bit missing); perforated tang heavily patinated.

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

Dagger axes with dragons
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.

Tiny turquoise mosaics define the coiled dragons, with beaked head, three clawed paw, and spiraling tail, on the projecting tang of the dagger axe. X-radiographs of these objects reveal it was assembled from different pieces that might not have belonged together originally and were pinned and soldered in place in modern times. These repairs explain the disorderly areas of turquoise inlay.

2. Afterlife: Ancient Chinese Jades, October 14, 2017–April 15, 2018; by Keith Wilson (shown with F1941.5 and F1941.4)

Halberd with dragons
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.

Tiny turquoise mosaics set in neat rows define a coiled dragon on the curved end of this ceremonial weapon. Try to make out the dragon’s body between the round eye and spiraling tail.

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) This type of ko [ge] 戈 has certainly been found at Anyang 安陽, and there seems to be no reason to doubt the report that the present one was found there.

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

4. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, June 17, 2008) As per Jenny F. So, Jade Project Database, changed Date from "12th century BCE" to "13th--12th century BCE." Changed Object Name from "Ritual weapon (ko [ge] 戈)" to "Ceremonial object"; changed Title from "Ritual weapon (ko [ge] 戈)" to "Dagger axe (ge 戈)." 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.

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

6. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, July 14, 2010) Title changed from "Dagger axe (ge 戈)" to "Ceremonial dagger axe (ge 戈) with dragons"; medium changed from "Bronze, turquoise, and jade (nephrite)" to "Bronze with turquoise inlay and jade (nephrite) blade"; period changed from Shang 商 to Late Shang 商 dynasty; added period two Early Anyang 安陽 period.

7. (Susan Kitsoulis per exhibition label text, Ancient Chinese Jades and Bronzes, Freer Gallery of Art, November 20, 2010) Date changed from "ca. 13th--12th century BCE" to "ca. 1300--1200 BCE"; Title changed from "Ceremonial dagger axe (ge 戈) with dragons" to "Dagger-axe (ge 戈) with dragons"; Object Name changed from "Ceremonial object" to "Dagger axe."

8. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 22, 2017) Title changed from "Dagger-axe (ge) with dragons" to "Dagger axe (ge 戈)"; period two changed from "Early Anyang period" to "Anyang period"; geography changed from "China, probably Henan province, Anyang"; date changed from "ca. 1300-1200 BCE" to "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE"; and dimensions changed from "H x W x D (overall): 41.9 x 10.6 x 0.9 cm (16 1/2 x 4 3/16 x 3/8 in)" to "H x W x D (overall): 10.6 × 41.9 × 0.9 cm (4 3/16 × 16 1/2 × 3/8 in)".

9. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, January 29, 2019) Added Chinese translation by Jingmin Zhang.
10. (YinYing Chen per Keith Wilson, February 10, 2023)
Change title from "Dagger-axe (ge 戈)" to "Dagger-axe (ge 戈) 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

Dr. John Alexander Pope, Thomas Lawton, Harold P. Stern. The Freer Gallery of Art. 2 vols., Washington and Tokyo, 1971-1972. cat. 16, vol. 1: pp. 154-5.
Suzuki Takahashi, Terukazu Akiyama, Suzuki Kei. Chugoku bijutsu [Chinese Art in Western Collections]. 5 vols., Tokyo, 1972-1973. vol. 4: fig. 98c.
Umehara Sueji. Yin hsu: Ancient Capital of the Shang Dynasty at An-yang. Tokyo. pl. 36 (1).
T'an Tan-chiung. Chung-hua i-shu t'u-lu [Chinese Art]. Taipei. pl. 5.
J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
Rene Grousset. La Chine et son Art. Collection Ars et historia Paris. facing p. 29.
Rene Grousset. Chinese Art and Culture. New York. p. xxii.
Masterpieces of Chinese and Japanese Art: Freer Gallery of Art handbook. Washington, 1976. p. 12.
Dagny Carter. Four Thousand Years of China's Art. New York. p. 19, b.
Na Chih-liang. "玉器通史." Yu ch'i t'ung shih [A General Study of Chinese Jade]. Hong Kong, 1965. p. 70, fig. 93.
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.

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Dagger-axe (ge 戈) with handle, masks (taotie), and cicadas

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