Object: Dagger-axe (ge 戈) with dragons S1987.712

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Historical period(s): early Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty, ca. 1200 BCE

Object Date: ca. 1200 BCE

Medium: Bronze with turquoise inlay and jade (nephrite) blade

Dimension(s): H x W x D (overall): 9 × 24.2 × 1.1 cm (3 9/16 × 9 1/2 × 7/16 in)

Origin: China, probably Henan province, Anyang

Credit Line: Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

Collection: Arthur M. Sackler Collection

Accession Number: S1987.712

: 戈
晚商安陽時期（公元前1200年）
中國，疑似河南安陽市
青銅鑲嵌綠松石，軟玉刀片
高8.7、寬24.2、厚1.1釐米
亞瑟·M·賽克勒贈送
器物標號:S1987.712

Provenance: As early as 1928
Likely discovered at archeological sites in Anyang, Honan Province, China [1]

To 1948
Zhang Naiji (1899–1948), Shanghai, China then New York, NY [2]

1948 to 1954
Zhang Mei Chien (1901–c.1955), New York, NY inherited upon her husband’s death [3]

From 1948 to no later than 1986
J. T. Tai & Company, New York, NY purchased from Zhang Mei Chien in July 1954 in New York, NY [4]

To 1987
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, New York, NY purchased from J. T. Tai & Company in New York, NY [5]

From 1987
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler on September 11, 1987 [6]

Notes:

[1] Object published in Archaic Chinese Jades: Special Exhibition (Philadelphia: The University Museum, February 1940), cat. 46. Catalogue entry notes discovery site. Excavations at Anyang began in 1928.

[2] Zhang Naiji (also known as N.C. Chang) was a businessman, born to a prestigious family in Zhejiang that made their wealth in the silk and salt industries. He collected ancient Chinese art objects and Chinese coins. Zhang amassed his collection whilst living in Shanghai, before leaving for America in 1938, and acquired his objects onsite of archeological excavations (see: Alfred Salmony, Chinese Jade through the Wei Dynasty. New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1963: 115.).

Zhang lent his collection anonymously to Archaic Chinese Jades: Special Exhibition. We know his identity through letters housed in the Department of Archives, The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (see: letter, C. T. Loo to Horace Jayne, 25 October 1939 and letter, from C. T. Loo to Horace Jayne, 16 December 1939), copies in FǀS COM provenance files. The exhibition was entirely organized by C. T. Loo & Company, New York. Letters exchanged between C. T. Loo and the director of The University Museum, Mr. Horace H.F. Jayne, reveal that Zhang Naiji owned the objects and C. T. Loo & Company had the collection on consignment (see: letter, from C. T. Loo to Horace Jayne, 28 May 1939 and letter, from C. T. Loo to Horace Jayne, 23 October 1940, copies on COM provenance files).

[3] Zhang Mei Chien, Zhang Naiji’s wife, assumed ownership upon his death in 1948.

[4] J. T. Tai & Company inventory number: Y T 1159. J. T. Tai & Company purchased numerous jades from Mrs. Zhang in July of 1964 ((for example, see J. T. Tai & Company Stock Record YT 886 and YT 895, copies in COM provenance files).
Arthur M. Sackler cataloguing document, compiled by conservators on January 2, 1986, includes the dealer number (see original binders in F|S COM office, copy of singular page located in accession file).

[5] See note 4. This object was part of Arthur M. Sackler’s 1987 gift to the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery (see note 6).

[6] 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): C.T. Loo & Company (1914-1948)
Zhang Naiji 張乃驥 (1899-1948)
Zhang Mei Chien (1900-1998)
J. T. Tai & Co. (established in 1950)
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

Description: Ceremonial blade with inlaid bronze handle, pointed blade. (Bronze handle fragile, deteriorated, has incrustations, heavy green patina; nicks in edge of blade and blade incrusted with dirt.)

Past label text: 1. In Praise of Ancestors, September 28, 1987–January 5, 1989; by Thomas Lawton (shown with S1987.701 and S1987.678; additional jade forked blade, arrowhead, and ornament shown in same case)

Dagger-Axe (Ge 戈)
ca. 1200 BCE
Shang 商 dynasty
China
Jade and bronze

The jade blade is inserted into a bronze tang, or projecting shank, and has a butt in the shape of a stylized bird’s head. The bronze surface probably was originally decorated with turquoise.

2. (Keith Wilson, Anyang: China's Ancient City of Kings, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, February 25, 2023 to April 28, 2024)

Dagger-axe with handle
Early Anyang period, ca. 1200 BCE
Bronze with turquoise inlay and
jade (nephrite) blade
Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment
F1940.10a–e

Dagger-axes
Early Anyang period, ca. 1200 BCE
Bronze with turquoise inlay and jade
(nephrite) blade or bronze with turquoise
inlay
Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment F1941.5
Gift of Arthur M. Sackler S1987.712
Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment F1950.9

Round axe
Anyang period, ca. 1250–1050 BCE
Jade (nephrite)
giFt oF eugene and agnes e. meyer F1968.48

Axe with handle
Early Anyang period, ca. 1200 BCE
Bronze with turquoise inlay and jade (nephrite) blade
Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment
F1941.4

Axe
Anyang period, ca. 1250–1050 BCE
Jade (nephrite)
Gift of Arthur M. Sackler S1987.673

Weapons for Show
War was a constant preoccupation for the early Anyang kings, and they regularly appealed to the gods and ancestors when raising armies and launching military campaigns. The infantry weapon of choice was a dagger-axe made of bronze that was fastened to a wooden handle typically about three feet in length. The bronze and jade weapons seen here, some richly inlaid with turquoise, were not intended for common foot soldiers; instead, they reflect the importance of ceremonial display at Anyang. These flashy weapons would have been suitable for a martial king like Wu Ding or one of his leading generals to brandish while presiding over rituals of human sacrifice involving enemy captives.

Curatorial Remarks

1. (Undated Folder Sheet) The jade blade of this dagger-axe has a pronounced median crest that extends from the curving point to the butt end. The blade is inserted into a bronze tang, which consists of a projecting socket, a hafting bar with a circular perforation, a butt in the shape of a stylized bird's head. Although there are no traces of inlay, the bronze surface probably was originally decorated with turquoise. The jade surface is heavily incrusted; the bronze tang is corroded.

Bronze ge 戈, or dagger-axe, are the most common type of ancient Chinese weapon now known. Ceremonial replicas of the more sturdy bronze prototypes were occasionally made with jade blades and turquoise tesserae inserted into frets which were cast with the bronze handles.

The Sackler jade and bronze dagger-axe is traditionally said to have been unearthed at Anyang 安陽 in Henan 河南 province. A number of comparable examples known to have been excavated from Shang 商 dynasty sites in the Anyang 安陽 region support that attribution.

2. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, June 17, 2008) As per Jenny F. So, Jade Project Database, changed Period one from "Shang 商 dynasty" to "Late Shang 商 dynasty"; changed Date from "ca. 1200 BCE" to "12th--11th century BCE." Changed Object Name from "Weapon: dagger-axe (ge 戈) blade" to "Ceremonial object." Added Dimensions (blade) per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database.

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

4. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 22, 2017) Title changed from "Dagger-axe (ge)" to "Dagger axe (ge 戈)"; period two added "Anyang period"; date changed from "ca. 12th-11th century" to "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE"; geography changed from "China, Henan province, Anyang" to "China, probably Henan province, Anyang"; medium changed from "Bronze and jade" to "Bronze with turquoise inlay and jade (nephrite) blade"; and dimensions changed from "H x W x D (overall): 24.2 x 8.7 x 1.1 cm (9 1/2 x 3 7/16 x 7/16 in)" to "H x W x D (overall): 8.7 × 24.2 × 1.1 cm (3 7/16 × 9 1/2 × 7/16 in)".

5. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, January 29, 2019) Chinese translation added by Jingmin Zhang; added the following to the description field, "Ceremonial blade with inlaid bronze handle, pointed blade. (Bronze handle fragile, deteriorated, has incrustations, heavy green patina; nicks in edge of blade and blade incrusted with dirt.)"; and added past label text by Thomas Lawton.
6. (YinYing Chen per Keith Wilson, February 10, 2023)
Change title from "Dagger-axe (ge 戈)" to "Dagger-axe (ge 戈) with dragons."
Change period from "Late Shang dynasty, Anyang period" to "Late Shang dynasty, early Anyang period."
Change date from " ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE" to " ca. 1200 BCE."
Change date from "公元前1300-1050年" to "公元前1200年" in the translation field.

Published References

et al. Asian Art in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery: The Inaugural Gift. Washington, 1987. cat. 47, p. 91.
J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .

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