1. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 21, 2017) Title changed from "Dagger-axe (ge)" to "Dagger axe (ge 戈)"; period one "Forgery in the style of the Erlitou culture (ca. 2000-1600 BCE)"; and medium changed from "Jade" to "Jade (nephrite)".
2. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, February 14, 2019) Title changed from "Dagger axe (ge 戈)" to "Dagger-axe (ge 戈)"; added Chinese translation by Jingmin Zhang; and transferred Unpublished Research by Jenny F. So from the Curatorial Remarks field to the Text Entries field.
Draft catalogue entry (no. 87) for S2012.9.256 for the catalogue of the Singer collection (1970--90); by Jenny F. So
Dagger-axe
Shang 商 dynasty, 17th--15th century BCE (?)
Jade
Length 46.8 cm (18 7/16 in)
This large halberd blade of a ge 戈 is sliced breathtakingly thin from a semitranslucent, green jade with gray and white streaks. The smooth, flat ge 戈 blade is a long rectangle with a symmetrical, pointed end. It narrows slightly at the shoulders to form a straight, rectangular tang that is pierced in the middle by a conical hole and decorated lengthwise with fluting. On both sides of the shoulder are finely engraved lines arranged in sets of three, crisscrossing to form a lozenge pattern bounded by a narrow border. The lozenge pattern is executed with uncanny mathematical precision and unfailingly straight lines.
A large jade knife from Erlitou 二里頭, Henan 河南 province, bears the same geometric ornament but is executed with less precision. [1]
[1] Wen Fong, The Great Bronze Age of China: An Exhibition from The People's Republic of China (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1980), no. 3.
Usage conditions apply
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections..
International Image Interoperability Framework