Object: Dagger-axe (ge 戈), fragment reworked S1987.648

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: 6.2 x 20.4 x 0.7 cm (2 7/16 x 8 1/16 x 1/4 in)

Origin: China, probably Henan province, Anyang

Credit Line: Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

Collection: Arthur M. Sackler Collection

Accession Number: S1987.648

: 戈（殘損后另加工）
晚商安陽時期（公元前1300-1050年）
中國, 疑似河南安陽市
玉
高6.2、寬20.4、厚0.7釐米
亞瑟·M·賽克勒贈送
器物編號: S1987.648

Provenance: To 1959
Diedrich Abbes (1866-1959), Greenwich, CT [1]

1959 to 1987
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, New York, purchased from the estate of Diedrich Abbes on July 10, 1959 through Frank Caro, C. T. Loo Chinese Art, New York [2]

From 1987
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler in 1987 [3]

Notes:

[1] See note on Arthur M. Sackler, M.D. letterhead acknowledging the "purchase and receipt of 17 pieces of stone carvings of the Shang, Yin-Chou and Chou periods from the Dietrich-Abbes collection. The price in full, exclusive of commission, will be paid as indicated by this note in two installments," copy in object file.

[2] See note 1. For Frank Caro's involvement, see: letter to Frank Caro from Arnold J. Bai of the law firm Goldstein and Peck, Bridgeport Connecticut, September 28, 1960, copy in object file. The letter asks Frank Caro to have (presumably) his client, Arthur M. Sackler, to send the final payment for the Diedrich Abbes Collection of jades to the law firm. Goldstein and Peck mistakenly identify Mr. Caro's business as C. T. Loo Company, when it was called C. T. Loo Chinese Art.

[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): Diedrich Abbes (1866-1959)
Frank Caro (1904-1980)
C.T. Loo Chinese Art (1953-1961)
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

Description: Blade, broad, pointed, ridged; pierced; opaque grayish tan. (Calcified [?], flawed on tang; brown substance on surface.)

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 S1987.568)

Dagger-Axe (Ge 戈)
13th–11th centuries BCE
Shang 商–Western Zhou 周 dynasties
China
Jade

Curatorial Remarks

1. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, June 17, 2008) As per Jenny F. So, Jade Project Database, changed Period one from "Shang 商 or Western Zhou 周 dynasty" to "Late Shang 商." Changed Object Name from "Ritual weapon" to "Ceremonial object." 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, August 17, 2017) Title changed from "Dagger-axe (ge)" to "Dagger axe (ge 戈), fragment reworked"; period two added "Anyang period"; date changed from "ca. 12th-11th century BCE" to "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE"; geography changed from "China" to "China, probably Henan province, Anyang"; dimensions changed from "H x W x D: 20.4 x 6.2 x 0.7 cm (8 1/16 x 2 7/16 x 1/4 in)" to "H x W x D: 6.2 x 20.4 x 0.7 cm (2 7/16 x 8 1/16 x 1/4 in)".

4. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, February 5, 2019) Added Chinese translation by Jingmin Zhang; added the following to the description field, "Blade, broad, pointed, ridged; pierced; opaque grayish tan. (Calcified [?], flawed on tang; brown substance on surface.)"; added past label text by Thomas Lawton from the exhibition, In Praise of Ancestors; and title changed from "Dagger-axe (ge 戈), fragment reworked" to "Dagger-axe (ge 戈), fragment reworked".

Published References

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

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Dagger-axe (ge 戈), fragment reworked

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