Round axe, made from a collared disk

1. Acquired by gift from Mrs. Eugene Meyer, Washington, D.C., and Mt. Kisco, New York. To be acknowledged as Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer.

2. (Thomas Lawton, 1970) Although ringed disks are sometimes identified as cup stands, the theory is not convincing. The shape of the disks does not seem to be suitable for use as cup stands and there are no Shang 商 or early Chou [Zhou] 周 dynasty cups which could be placed on them. Structurally, the flanged disk may quite likely be derived from Neolithic stone mace heads. The thinness of the jade, the finely worked raised flange, and the lateral notches, which can only be interpreted as an ornamental feature, suggest that this disk was meant for emblematic or symbolic use.

The seven-character inscription carved into the cover of the box in which the flanged disk is kept reads: Chou, Ku-pi, T'ao-chai chen-ts'ang [Zhou, gubi, Taozhai zhencang] 周，穀璧，陶齋珍藏. The jade cannot be identified as a ku-pi [gubi] 穀璧, or "grain pi [bi] 璧" and the style would suggest a Shang 商 rather than a Chou [Zhou] 周 dynasty date. The reference to Tuanfang [Duanfang] 端方 (1861--1911)'s studio, the T'ao-chai [Taozhai] 陶齋, does suggest the possibility that this flanged disk may originally have been in his collection. An almost identical jade is illustrated in a line-drawing in Tuanfang [Duanfang] 端方's jade catalogue, T'ao-chai ku-yu t'u [Taozhai guyu tu] 陶齋古玉圖 (Shanghai: Laiqing ge, 1936), 3: a-b. The flanged disk is there identified as a pi-hsien [bixian] 璧羨. A reference in the Chou-li [Zhou Li] 周禮 (Ch'un-kuan [Chunguan] 春官 Tien-jui [Dianrui] 典瑞) describes the pi-hsien [bixian] 璧羨 as 璧羨以起度. Edouard Biot, in his Le Tcheou-li (Rites des Tcheou) (Paris: L'Imprimerie nationale, 1851), vol. I, p. 490, translates this passage: "La tablette ronde ou allongée, la tablette ovale (Pi-yen) sert pour ré gler les mesures."
 
3. (Julia K. Murray, A Decade of Discovery: Selected Acquisitions 1970--1980 [Washington, D.C.: Freer Gallery of Art, 1979], no. 5) An unusual shape, this ritual jade has been variously called a pi [bi] 璧 (circular disk), a flanged pierced disk, a battle-axe disk, and a collared disk. It may have been a collared disk that, possibly because of damage to one of the edges, was re-worked to make it one of the ceremonial type in which the pi [bi] 璧 is combined with the traditional axe and called either a "disk-axe" or a "ring-shaped axe." Scattered examples exist in Western collections, and the type has turned up at Anyang 安陽. However, none of the other examples has the raised inner perimeter seen in the Freer piece, suggesting that it might originally have been a simple collared disk. The notched flanges at both sides, occupying less of the circumference than in other ring-shaped axes, also are more deeply cut than others of the type. The bottom edge, longer than the top arc as is the case in some of the other examples, is sharpened, and the upper edge left blunt.

4. (Julia K. Murray, 1982) For further discussion of the evolution of the ring-axe, see Folder Sheet F1968.48. It might be appropriate to call F1970.39 a "collared ring-axe," because of the raised perimeter; perhaps it was reworked from an ordinary collared disk that suffered damage to one of its edges. Such damage might be effectively camouflaged by cutting deep flanges. Ordinary collared disks are found in quantity in the Shang 商 jade inventory, and some examples whose size and proportions are comparable to those of F1970.39 were found in the 12th-century tomb of Fu Hao 婦好 (reproduced in Chung-kuo she-huei 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 Fu Hao mu] 殷墟婦好墓 [Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1980], pl. 87/2 [1014] and pl. 88/2 [456]).

5. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 8, 2008) Tool and Equipment added as secondary classification.
 
6. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, April 2, 2010) Object name changed from "Axe (fu 斧)" to "Ceremonial object." Title changed from "Axe (fu 斧)" to "Round axe (qibi 戚璧) with flanges." Deleted "Western Zhou 西周 dynasty."
 
7. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, December 20, 2011) Late Shang 商 dynasty, late Anyang 安陽 period.

8. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 15, 2017) Title changed from "Round axe with flanges" to "Axe (yue 鉞)"; date changed from "12th-11th century BCE" to "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE"; period two changed from "late Anyang period" to "Anyang period"; geography changed from "China, probably Henan province, Anyang"; medium changed from "Jade" to "Jade (nephrite)"; and changed classification 2 keyword from "Tools and Equipment" to "Ceremonial Object".

9. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, January 29, 2019) Title changed from "Axe (yue 鉞)" to "Axe (yue 鉞), made from a collared disk"; and added Chinese translation by Jignmin Zhang.

10. (YinYing Chen per Keith Wilson, February 22, 2023)
Change title from "Axe (yue 鉞), made from a collared disk" to "Round axe, made from a collared disk."
Change date from "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE" to "ca. 1250-ca. 1050 BCE."
Change date from "公元前1300-1050年" to "公元前1250-1050年" in the translation field.