Harvesting knife (hu 笏), fragment

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

Received as a gift from Mrs. Pare Lorentz, Armonk, New York, when exhibited.

2. (Thomas Lawton, 1983) The blade has a fitted wooden box of traditional Chinese design. Carved into the cover of the box are Chinese characters that identify the jade piece as a ta chang [dazhang] 大璋 ("large scepter"), and date it to the Chou [Zhou] 周 dynasty. Four smaller characters state that the blade was in the collection of T'ao chai [Taozhai] 陶齋, the studio of the late Ch'ing [Qing] 清 dynasty official and collector, Tuan Fang [Duanfang] 端方 (1861--1911). At the beginning of the 20th century the blade was acquired by Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer, presumably from a dealer in New York City. Eugene and Agnes Meyer, the mother of the present donor, purchased a number of important Chinese objects that formerly were owned by Tuan Fang [Duanfang] 端方. There is no reason to question the authenticity of the statement regarding T'ao chai's [Taozhai's] 陶齋 ownership that appears on the cover of the wooden box, although the jade blade is not included in Tuan fang's [Duanfang's] 端方 catalogue, T'ao-chai ku-yϋ t'u [Taozhai guyu tu] 陶齋古玉圖.

3. For discussion of this type of jade blade, see Folder Sheet for F1917.24.

4. (Jenny F. So, September 13, 1995) Date changed from "Late Shang 商--Early Western Zhou 周" to "ca. 1100--1000 BCE"; Period changed to "Shang 商--Western Zhou 周."

5. (Stephen Allee, June 11, 2008) Added designation "nephrite" to Medium as per Elizabeth W. Fitzhugh in January 1983, as determined by infrared spectroscopy. Also changed Object Name from "Weapon: knife" to "Ceremonial object"; changed Title from "Trapezoidal blade (hu 笏)" to "Harvesting knife (hu 笏)." Added Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database. Added Previous Owner to Constituents: "Ex collection Duanfang 端方, 1861--1911."

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

7. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, April 2, 2010) "Fragment" added to title.

8. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, June 10, 2010) Changed period from "Shang 商 or Western Zhou 周 dynasty" to "Late Neolithic period"; date changed from "ca. 1100--1000 BCE" to "ca. 2000--1700 BCE.

9. (Jeffrey Smith, September 28, 2018) Credit line updated after review of the Deed of Gift on file, from "Gift of Mrs. Pare Lorentz" to "Gift of Elizabeth Lorentz"