Jades for Life and Death

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Historical period(s): Shang dynasty, ca. 1600-ca. 1050 BCE

Object Date: ca. 1600-ca. 1050 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 16.8 x 5.4 x 0.6 cm (6 5/8 x 2 1/8 x 1/4 in)

Origin: China

Credit Line: Transferred from the Department of the Treasury, U.S. Customs

Collection: Freer Study Collection

Accession Number: FSC-S-23

: 戈
商代,公元前1600-1050年
中國
軟玉
高16.8、寬5.4、厚0.6釐米
財政部美國海關署移交
器物編號:FSC-S-23

Provenance: To 1960
Chen Rentao (1906-1968), Hong Kong, and Frank Caro, C. T. Loo & Co., New York, to 1960 [1]

From 1960 to 1979
U.S. Customs Service, Department of the Treasury [2]

From 1979
Freer Gallery of Art, from October 23, 1979 [3]

[1] This object is one of a group of 88 objects (F80.104-F80.180, FSC-S-22-25 and FSC-O-11a-h) seized in 1960 by the U.S. Customs Service, Department of the Treasury, from the dealer and collector Chen Rentao, Hong Kong and Frank Caro of C. T. Loo & Co., New York. The objects were deemed to have been introduced into the commerce of the United States in violation of 19 U.S.C. 1592 (Trade with Communist China).

[2] See note 1. The object’s ownership title is based on the settlement agreement, dated November 1971, between the United States, Chen Tung Siang Wen, the executrix for Chen Rentao Estate, and Frank Caro, copy in object file. See U.S. Customs Service Memorandum, April 23, 1979 and a letter from Thadeus Rojek, Chief Counsel, Department of the Treasury, U.S. Custom Service, to Marie C. Malaro, Assistant General Counsel, Smithsonian Institution, dated November 29, 1979, copy in object file. The objects remained in the custody of the U.S. Customs Service office in New York until 1979.

[3] The object was transferred to the Freer Gallery of Art on October 23, 1979.

Previous owner(s): Chen Rentao 陳仁濤 (1906-1968)
U.S. Customs Service

Curatorial Remarks

1. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, June 12, 2008) As per Jenny F. So, Jade Project Database, added Period (Shang 商 dynasty), Date (ca. 1600--ca. 1050 BCE); changed Object name from "Blade (ko [ge] 戈)" to "Ceremonial object"; changed Title from "Chinese jade; ko [ge] 戈" to "Dagger axe (ge 戈)." Added Dimensions per Christine Lee from Jade Project Database.

2. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 17, 2008) Ceremonial object added as secondary classification.
3. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, January 9, 2020) Title changed from "Dagger-axe (ge)" to "Dagger-axe (ge 戈)"; added Chinese Caption by Jingmin Zhang.

Published References

J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .

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Dagger-axe (ge 戈)

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