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): 11.5 × 15.1 × 1.5 cm (4 1/2 × 5 15/16 × 9/16 in) Diam: 3.1 cm (1 1/4 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: S2012.9.126

: 斧
新石器時代晚期良渚文化（公元前3300--2250年）
中國太湖地區，似為杭州
含叶蜡石，赤铁矿，和石英的岩石
高14.2、寬9.8、厚1釐米
孔徑3.1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：S2012.9.126

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)

Description: Ceremonial axe with evenly rounded cutting edge, tapering slightly toward the blunt and almost straight butt; large biconical hole drilled slightly off-center toward the butt; purplish gray stone with darker purple mottlings. (One corner broken, chipped cutting edge).

Curatorial Remarks

1. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, August 14, 2008) Tool and Equipment added as secondary classification.

Unpublished Research: Draft catalogue entry (no. 15) for S2012.9.126 for the catalogue of the Singer collection (1970--1990); by Jenny F. So

Axe
China, Neolithic period, 4th--3d millennium BCE
Jade
Length 14.4 cm (5 5/8 in.)

The bottom of this rectangular axe is ground to a convex edge, while the butt remains blunt and straight. A large biconical hole is drilled slightly off center toward the butt. The deep purplish gray stone is mottled, and the delicately ground surface is not pitted.

Axes with elegantly curved cutting edges and carefully placed and worked holes are typical of Neolithic cultures, stretching from Shandong 山東 to Jiangsu 江蘇 provinces along the eastern coast of China. [1]

[1] See Fu Xianguo 傅憲國, "Shilun Zhongguo xinshiqi shidai de shiyue 試論中國新石器時代的石鉞," Kaogu 考古 1985.9, pp. 820--33.

Published References

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

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Axe (fu 斧)

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