Harvesting knife (hu 笏)

1. Original Folder Sheet note indicates name of source and location at date of acquisition. Source address listed in this record is most current.

Acquired by Carl Whiting Bishop while in China: Freer Gallery China Expedition, 1923--1934. Transferred from the Bishop Collection: SC-X440.

2. (Julia K. Murray, 1982) Changed date from ca. 4000--3000 BCE to 3rd millennium BCE.

Stone knives with one or two perforations are characteristic tools for a wide area of Neolithic and Shang 商 China. They were used for harvesting crops and possibly other kinds of cutting, and they are usually rectangular or semi lunar in shape. This blade is a somewhat elongated example of the latter type, which An Chih min [An Zhimin] 安志敏 believes to have developed somewhat later than the rectangular shaped knives. (See An Chih-min [An Zhimin] 安志敏, "Chung-kuo ku-tai ti shih-tao [Zhongguo gudai de shidao] 中國古代的石刀," K'ao ku hsueh pao [Kaogu xuebao] 考古學報 1955.10, pp. 27--51.) In shape and workmanship, this blade resembles a stone knife found at Han chia p'u [Hanjiapu] 韓家鋪, Ch'u fu [Qufu] 曲阜, Shantung [Shandong] 山東 (reproduced in Hayashi Minao 林巳奈夫, "Chūgoku kodai no ishibōchōkei gyokki to kotsusenkei gyokki 中國古代の石庖丁形玉器と骨鏟形玉器 = Two Types of Prehistorical Chinese Ceremonial Jade Objects: Stone Harvesting Knives and Bone Spades," Tōhō gakuhō 東方學報 54 [1982], p. 22, fig. 21:8), which was excavated from Lung shan [Longshan] 龍山 and remains datable to ca. late 3rd millennium BCE.

In addition to being used as tools, stone knives sometimes were made for ceremonial purposes and are carefully shaped and well polished. The large tablet like knives with a large number of perforations, associated with an earlier phase of the Neolithic in eastern China (ca. late 4th millennium BCE), are obvious examples of this phenomenon. (See Nanking po-wu-yuan [Nanjing bowuyuan] 南京博物院, "Nan-ching shih Pei-yin-yang-ying ti i, erh tz'u ti fa-chueh [Nanjing shi Beiyinyangying di 1, 2 ci de fajue] 南京市北陰陽營第一、二次的發掘," K'ao ku hsueh pao [Kaogu xuebao] 考古學報 1958.1, pls. 5:5--6; and Anhwei sheng wen-wu kung-tso-tui [Anhui sheng wenwu gongzuodui] 安徽省文物工作隊, "Ch'ien-shan Hsueh-chia-kang hsin-shih-ch'i-shih-tai i-chih [Qianshan Xuejiagang xinshiqi shidai yizhi] 潛山薛家崗新石器時代遺址," K'ao ku hsueh pao [Kaogu xuebao] 考古學報 1982.3, p. 310, fig. 25 for representative examples.)

For further discussion, see F1917.24.

3. (Kate Theimer, drawn from project written by Sarah L. Newmeyer, April 25, 1995) Carl Whiting Bishop was a member of the Freer Gallery staff who made a series of expeditions to China for the purpose of acquiring objects for the collection. The first expedition (1923--1927) was funded jointly by the Freer Gallery and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The second expedition (1929--1934) was sponsored solely by the Freer. The 758 objects he acquired were accessioned into the Study Collection and were known as the Bishop Collection. Bishop acquired objects by both purchase and excavation. When the method of acquisition is known, it has been indicated in this record. The Freer Gallery Archives contain extensive primary information about Bishop and the expeditions, including Bishop's journal, 4,000 photographs of sites and of many objects, correspondence, and check stubs.

4. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, March 3, 2008) On this date entered: Period One (Late Neolithic period), Date (3300--2250 BCE), Artist (Liangzhu 良渚 culture), Title, Object name, Geographical region (Lake Tai 太湖 region); plus Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database.

5. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 17, 2008) Ceremonial object added as secondary classification.

6. (Stephen Allee, March 23, 2009) Changed Medium from "Jade" to "Stone (schist)" as per Janet Douglas using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (01/08/09).

7. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, June 10, 2010) Deleted "Liangzhu 良渚 culture" from artists constituent; changed period from "late Neolithic period" to "Neolithic period"; date from "3300--2250" to "3000--2500 BCE"; deleted "Lake Tai 太湖 region" from geographical location.

8. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, June 29, 2010) Changed period from "Neolithic" to "Late Neolithic."

9. (Rachel Anderson per Jeffrey Smith, October 1, 2010) Transfer of remark from Provenance Field: "Freer Gallery of Art Study Collection (Bishop Collection) by transfer to the Freer Gallery of Art permanent collection, August 8, 1974. Acquired in China by Associate Curator, Carl Whiting Bishop, for the Freer Gallery of Art Study Collection (Bishop Collection), 1923--34."