Object: Harvesting knife (hu 笏) S1987.449

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Maker(s): Artist: Erlitou culture 二里頭 (ca. 2000-1600 BCE)

Historical period(s): Late Neolithic period, ca. 2000-1600 BCE

Object Date: ca. 2000-1600 BCE

Medium: Jade (serpentine)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 10.5 x 73.6 x 1.4 cm (4 1/8 x 29 x 9/16 in)

Origin: China, probably Henan province

Credit Line: Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

Collection: Arthur M. Sackler Collection

Accession Number: S1987.449

: 幾何紋笏
二里頭文化（公元前2000--1600年）
中國河南二里頭
蛇紋石質玉
高10.5、寬73.6、厚1.4釐米
亞瑟 M. 賽克勒贈送
器物編號：S1987.449

Provenance: To 1959
Abel William Bahr (1877-1959), Shanghai, China, London, England, Montreal, Canada, New York, and Ridgefield, Connecticut [1]

From 1963 to 1987
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, New York, purchased from the Bahr Collection in 1963 [2]

From 1987
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler on September 11, 1987 [3]

Notes:

[1] According to information provided by the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, October 9, 2009.

[2] According to information provided by the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, October 9, 2009.

[3] Pursuant to the agreement between Dr. Arthur M. Sackler and the Smithsonian Institution, dated July 28, 1982, legal title of the donated objects was transferred to the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery on September 11, 1987.

Previous owner(s): Abel William Bahr (1877-1959)
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

Description: The object is of commanding size. It is trapezoidal in shape. The lower edge is marked by slightly diminished thickness, but it does not become a true cutting edge. The sides too, which are serrated to form flanges, are thinned out leaving the central area as almost a relief panel. Here the decoration, identical on both sides, consists of lines that form alternately straight and crisscross bands. Five conical holes drilled from one side pierce close to the upper edge. The stone is dark green and brown. Condition: old nicks, abrasions on edges; several small rough areas on surface.

Past label text: 1. In Praise of Ancestors, September 28, 1987–January 5, 1989; by Thomas Lawton (shown with S1987.450; additional jades of other types shown in same case)
Knife
1st half 2nd millennium BCE
China, Shang 商 dynasty
Jade

The lower edge of the blade is ground to a blunt edge, evidently a token reference to the sharpened cutting edge of the Late Neolithic stone example on which it was based.

Curatorial Remarks

1. (Thomas Lawton, September 1987) Exhibition In Praise of Ancestors label text; moved to label field.

2. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 8, 2008) Weapon and Armament added as secondary classification.

3. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, April 2, 2010) Object name changed from "Weapon: knife" to "Ceremonial object"; title from "Knife (Dao 刀)" to "Harvesting knife (hu 笏)."

4. (Jeffrey Smith per Janet Douglas, June 17, 2010) serpentine added as modifier to existing medium of "jade" based on conservation analysis.

5. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, April 22, 2016) Shang dynasty with object date of ca. 1st half -2nd millennium BCE changed to Late Neolithic period with object date of 1800-1600 BCE (Erlitou culture).
6. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, April 2, 2020) "Sanxingdui culture" unlinked and "Erlitou culture" linked as Constituent. Date changed from "ca. 2000-1000 BCE" to "ca. 2000-1600 BCE." Origin geography changed to "probably Henan province, China."

Published References

et al. Asian Art in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery: The Inaugural Gift. Washington, 1987. cat. 37, p. 81.
Minao Hayashi. Chūgoku kogyoku no kenkyū. Tokyo, 1991. pl. 13.
Minao Hayashi. Chūgoku kodai no ishibōchōkei gyokki to kotsusenkei gyokki [Two Types of Prehistorical Chinese Ceremonial Jade Objects: Stone Harvesting Knives and Bone Spades]. no. 54, 1982. pl. 13.
J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
Shuping Deng. Ye tan huaxi xitong de yuqi 5: Yi shiyou xianwen de liqi. no. 129 Taipei, 1993. p. 40, fig. 79.
Zhiqiang Yin. Xiadai yuqi chutan. no. 162 Taipei, 1996. p. 86.
Elizabeth Childs-Johnson, Fang Gu. Yuqi shidai: Meiguo bowuguan cang Zhongguo zaoqi yuqi [The Jade Age: Early Chinese Jades in American Museums]. Beijing, 2009. p. 193.

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Harvesting knife (hu 笏)

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