Jades for Life and Death

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Historical period(s): Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty, ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE

Object Date: ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 3.4 × 13.1 × 0.3 cm (1 5/16 × 5 3/16 × 1/8 in)

Origin: China, probably Henan province, Anyang

Credit Line: Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

Collection: Arthur M. Sackler Collection

Accession Number: S1987.568

: 刀
晚商安陽時期（公元前1300-1050年）
中國，疑似河南安陽市
軟玉
高3.4、寬13.1、厚0.3釐米
亞瑟·M·賽克勒贈送
器物編號: S1987.568

Provenance: To 1963
J. T. Tai & Co., New York, New York [1]

From 1963 to 1987
Arthur M. Sackler, New York, purchased from J. T. Tai & Co., New York, New York, 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] See note 1.

[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): J. T. Tai & Co. (established in 1950)
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

Description: Blade; notched on straight side; pierced twice; opaque marbled greens and tans. (Broken and repaired; nicks and chipped flaws.)

Past label text: In Praise of Ancestors, September 28, 1987–January 5, 1989; by Thomas Lawton (shown with S1987.699, S1987.702, S1987.700, S1987.717, S1987.706, S1987.646, and S1987.648)

Knife (Dao 刀)
13th–11th centuries BCE
Shang 商 dynasty
China
Jade

Curatorial Remarks

1. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 8, 2008) Implement added as secondary classification.

2. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, April 2, 2010) Object name changed from "Weapon: knife" to "Ceremonial object."

3. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 21, 2017) Title changed from "Knife (dao)" to "Knife (dao 刀)"; period changed from "Shang dynasty" to "Late Shang dynasty"; period two added "Anyang period"; geography changed from "China" to "China, probably Anyang period"; medium changed from "Jade" to "Jade (nephrite)"; dimensions changed from "H x W x D: 13.1 x 3.4 x 0.3 cm (5 3/16 x 1 5/16 x 1/8 in)" to "H x W x D: 3.4 × 13.1 × 0.3 cm (1 5/16 × 5 3/16 × 1/8 in)"; date changed from "ca. 13th-11th century BCE" to "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE".

4. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, February 14, 2019) Added Chinese translation by Jingmin Zhang; added the following to the Description field, "Blade; notched on straight side; pierced twice; opaque marbled greens and tans. (Broken and repaired; nicks and chipped flaws.)"; and added Past Label Text by Thomas Lawton from the Exhibition, In Praise of Ancestors.

Published References

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

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Knife (dao 刀)

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