Jades for Life and Death

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Maker(s): Artist: Liangzhu culture 良渚 (ca. 3300-ca. 2250 BCE)

Historical period(s): Late Neolithic period, ca. 3300-ca. 2250 BCE

Object Date: ca. 3300-ca. 2250 BCE

Medium: Stone with pyrophyllite, hematite, and quartz

Dimension(s): H x W x D (overall): 9.8 × 14.4 × 1.1 cm (3 7/8 × 5 11/16 × 7/16 in) Diam (hole): 3.5 cm (1 3/8 in)

Origin: China, Lake Tai region, probably Hangzhou

Credit Line: The Dr. Paul Singer Collection of Chinese Art of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; a joint gift of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, Paul Singer, the AMS Foundation for the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities, and the Children of Arthur M. Sackler

Collection: Arthur M. Sackler Collection

Accession Number: S2012.9.125

: 斧
新石器時代晚期良渚文化（公元前3300--2250年）
中國太湖地區，疑出土于杭州
含叶蜡石，赤铁矿，和石英的岩石
高15、寬11、厚0.5釐米
孔徑3.5釐米
史密森博物學院亞瑟 M. 賽克勒美術館保羅·辛格中國藝術收藏品；亞瑟 M. 賽克勒基金會，保羅·辛格，AMS基金會，及亞瑟 M. 賽克勒子女聯合贈送
器物編號：S2012.9.125

Provenance: ?-1997
Dr. Paul Singer (1904-1997), method of acquisition unknown [1]

1997-1999
In the custody of Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, upon death of Paul Singer and establishment of a loan agreement [2]

From 1999
The National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, by gift of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, Paul Singer, the AMS Foundation for the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities, and the Children of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler [3]

Notes:

[1] The collection of Chinese art and antiquities assembled by Dr. Paul Singer over time was purchased by him on behalf of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler, Jillian Sackler, The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, the AMS Foundation for the Arts, Sciences and Humanities and later was transferred to the children of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler.

[2] The Dr. Paul Singer Collection of Chinese Art came into the custody of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, upon Paul Singer’s death in January 1997. See loan agreement between the Executors of the Singer Estate and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, February 1997, copy in collection accession files. In March 2023, the museum's legal name changed to National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution.

[3] The entirety of the Dr. Paul Singer Collection of Chinese Art formally accessioned in 2012. See the Dr. Paul Singer Collection of Chinese Art gift agreement, March 1999, copy in collection accession files. The work is part of the Museum’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection.

Research updated on June 12, 2024.

Previous owner(s): Dr. Paul Singer (1904-1997)

Curatorial Remarks

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

Unpublished Research: Draft catalogue entry (no. 14) for S2012.9.125 for the catalogue of the Singer collection (1970--1990); by Louise Fitzgerald Huber

Axe
China, Neolithic period, 3d millennium BCE
Jade
Length 14 cm (52 in)

The axe is biconvex in section and tapers only slightly from its evenly rounded cutting edge toward the butt. Equidistant from the butt and from each side of the blade is a large biconical perforation. The stone is an opaque whitish lavender with darker, magenta patches on both sides. Axes like the present example are one of several standard Liangzhu 良渚 types dating from the third millennium BCE. Among the numerous instances of such pieces excavated from burials in southeastern Jiangsu 江蘇 province and northern Zhejiang 浙江 are three from Fuquanshan 福泉山, near Shanghai 上海, and two from Sidun 寺墩, northeast of Changzhou 常州. [1]

[1] For Fuquanshan 福泉山, see Shanghai shi wenwu baoguan weiyuanhui 上海市文物保管委員會, "Shanghai Fuquanshan Liangzhu wenhua muzang 上海福泉山良渚文化墓葬," Wenwu 文物 1984.2, p. 4, fig. 11; Shanghai shi wenwu baoguan weiyuanhui 上海市文物保管委員會, "Shanghai Qingpu Fuquanshan Liangzhu wenhua mudi 上海青浦福泉山良渚文化墓地," Wenwu 文物 1986.10, p. 8, figs. 15--16; for Sidun 寺墩, see Nanjing bowuyuan 南京博物院, "1982 nian Jiangsu Changzhou Wujin Sidun yizhi de fajue 1982年江蘇常州武進寺墩遺址的發掘," Kaogu 考古 1984.2, p. 116, figs. 7:7, 13, pl. 5:1.

Published References

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

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Axe (fu 斧)

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