Object: Miniature hafted dagger-axe (ge 戈) S2012.9.279

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Historical period(s): Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty, ca. 1250-ca. 1050 BCE

Object Date: ca. 1250-ca. 1050 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 5 × 1.4 × 0.4 cm (2 × 9/16 × 3/16 in)

Origin: China, probably Henan province, Anyang

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: S2012.9.279

: 微型帶柄戈
晚商安陽時期（公元前1250-1050年）
中國，疑似河南安陽市
軟玉
高4.7、寬2.1、厚0.4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：S2012.9.279

Provenance: 1931-1952
David David-Weill (1871-1952), Paris and Neuilly-sur-Seine France, mode of acquisition unknown [1]

1952-1970
Flora Raphaël David-Weill (1878-1970), inherited upon death of her husband, David David-Weill [2]

1970-1972  
Descendants of David and Flora Raphaël David-Weill, inherited upon death of Flora Raphaël David-Weill in 1970 [3] 

1972
Sale, Sotheby & Co., The D. David-Weill Collection, Catalogue of Early Chinese Bronzes, Inlaid Metalwork, Gilt Bronzes and Silver, Jades, Sculpture and Ceramics, February 29, 1972 (London), lot 24 [4]

1972-1997
Dr. Paul Singer (1904-1997), Summit, NJ purchased through Mr. Payne at "D. David-Weill Collection Sale," on March 15, 1972 [5]

From 1997
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, bequeathed by Dr. Paul Singer [6]

Notes:

[1] David David-Weill's ownership indicated in Olov Janse, "Le style du Houai et ses affinités, notes à propos de quelques objets de la collection David-Weill," in Revue des arts asiatiques vol. 8, no.3 (1934), pl.53: 4. The description of the object reports that David-Weill's inventory number is D.W. 31/7, indicating that this was the seventh object David David-Weill acquired in 1931.

David David-Weill (1871-1952) was an American-born, French banker and chairman of Lazard Frères, his family's bank headquartered in Paris. From 1925 to 1939 he was president of the council of French National Museums and, until 1938, the vice president of the Friends of the Louvre. David-Weill was a life-long, prolific collector, acquiring a broad range of objects including 18th-century French art, ancient Chinese bronzes and jades, silvers, and European and Chinese cloisonné. He lent 12 objects from his collection to International Exhibition of Chinese Art at the Royal Academy of London (1935-36) and several objects to the exhibition Arts de la Chine Ancienne at Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris (1937). During his lifetime, he donated numerous art works to French Museums. In 1937 David-Weill sold pieces from his European collection to Wildenstein & Company. During World War 2, Nazis plundered his collection and seized over 2000 objects, most of which were restituted after the War. Parts of David-Weill's collections were hidden and escaped Nazi seizure. It is unclear if this object was stolen by the Nazis. If it was, the object was restituted to the family, as it was in their possession through 1972.

[2] David David-Weill died on July 7, 1952 in Neuilly, France. His wife, Flora Raphaël David-Weill inherited the object.

[3] See note 4; upon death of Flora Raphaël David-Weill, a Sotheby sale was organized. It does not specify who collected the profits, but it was likely the descendants.

[4] See Sotheby & Co., The D. David-Weill Collection: Catalogue of Early Chinese Bronzes, Inlaid Metalwork, Gilt Bronzes and Silver, Jades, and Sculpture and Ceramics (London, February 29, 1972), lot 24.

[5] See letter from C.M. Payne to Dr. Paul Singer, 1 March 1972 and invoice from Sotheby & Co., London to Dr. Paul Singer, 15 March 1972, no. 24, page 1, copies in object file. C.M. Payne of the Sales Office at Sotheby & Co., London placed bids on behalf of Dr. Paul Singer at the February 1972 auction.

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

[6] Upon Paul Singer's death in January 1997, his collection was transferred to the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery by order of the Executors of the Estate under a loan agreement signed on February 1997. Shortly thereafter, the Sackler Gallery was vested with full ownership and title to the collection in full agreement by the Sackler Foundations and Sackler family members. The formal accession of the Singer collection was completed in 2012.

Previous owner(s): David David-Weill (1871-1952)
Flora Raphaël David-Weill (1878-1971)
David-Weill Family
Dr. Paul Singer (1904-1997)

Past label text: 1. (Keith Wilson, Anyang: China's Ancient City of Kings, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, February 25, 2023 to April 28, 2024)

Pendants: Circular dragon,
Dagger-axe, Turtle
Anyang period, ca. 1250–1050 BCE

Jade (nephrite)
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 S2012.9.232, S2012.9.279, and
S2012.9.301

Treasured Possessions
Richly furnished Anyang tombs contained an array of luxuries, including jewelry and small personal objects—their number and type helping to indicate the status and interests of the deceased. Crafted from a variety of valued materials, these precious ornaments for the afterlife also offer insights into the fashion of the living. Carved bone hairpins and jade (nephrite) pendants and fittings were often inspired by the natural world; the depictions on their surfaces range from lifelike to abstract. Most remarkable are designs inspired by the supernatural (including combat between a dragon and bird) and ancient objects. The circular dragon pendant is based on a Neolithic prototype predating Anyang by two thousand years.

Curatorial Remarks

1. (Daisy Yiyou Wang 王依悠, January 28, 2012) Title changed from "Miniature Hafted Dagger-Axe" to "Pendant in the form of a hafted dagger-axe (ge 戈)"; Period one changed from "Shang 商 Western Zhou 周 dynasty" to "Early Western Zhou 周 dynasty"; Date changed from "12th--10th century BCE" to "10th--9th century BCE"; Place of origin changed from "China" to "Purportedly unearthed at Anyang 安陽, Henan 河南 province, China"; Medium changed from "jade" to "jade (nephrite)."

2. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 16, 2017) Title changed from "Pendant in the form of a miniature hafted dagger-axe (ge)" to "Miniature hafted dagger axe (ge 戈)"; period one changed from "Early Western Zhou dynasty" to "Late Shang dynasty"; period two added "Anyang period"; date changed from "ca. 1050-900 BCE" to "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE"; classifcation 2 keyword changed from "Jewelry and Ornament" to "Ceremonial Object"; and object name changed from "Pendant" to "Axe".

3. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, December 18, 2018) Chinese translation added by Jingmin Zhang; title changed from "Miniature hafted dagger axe (ge 戈)" to "Miniature hafted dagger-axe (ge 戈)"; added unpublished research by Jingmin Zhang; and changed Origin Geography from "probably unearthed from Anyang, Henan province, China" to "Anyang, probably Henan province, China".
4. (YinYing Chen per Keith Wilson, February 15, 2023)
Change object name from "Ceremonial object: dagger-axe (ge)" to "Pendant."
Change date from "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE" to "ca. 1250-1050 BCE."
Change date from "公元前1300-1050年" to "公元前1250-1050年" in the translation field.

Unpublished Research: Draft catalogue entry (no. 100) for S2012.9.279 for the catalogue of the Singer collection (1970--90); by Louisa Fitzgerald Huber
Miniature Hafted Dagger-axe
Shang 商-- Western Zhou 周 dynasty, 12th--10th centuries BCE
Jade
Height 4.7 cm (1 7/8 in)

This charming model reproduces in careful detail the Chinese ge 戈, although the dagger-axe is shown not as it must have looked in reality but with a shortened haft, in the manner in which it appears inscribed as a pictograph on Shang 商 and Western Zhou 周 bronzes. At the top, the sturdy haft displays a horizontal extension facing to the back and near the lower end, a disk shaped bulge perforated through the center. The broad blade with a sharp point and elongated lower edge is shown fitted into a cleft in the haft. The nei 内, or tang, emerges at the back of the hafting stick. A second small perforation has been drilled slightly more than midway up the shaft. The originally green jade is now almost entirely a creamy white.

Bronze dagger-axes unearthed from Tomb 1003 at Houjiazhuang 侯家莊 provide the earliest approximately datable instances of ge 戈 blades exhibiting an elongated lower edge. [1] This tomb, which may be assigned with reasonable certainty to the second half of the Anyang 安陽 period, affords a terminus post quem for blades of this type and consequently for the present specimen. A miniature hafted ge 戈 made from shell has been recovered from a late Anyang 安陽 site at Xiaotun 小屯. [2] The present example was formerly in the collection of David David Weill. [3]

Published: Olov Janse, "Le style du Houai et ses affinités, notes à propos de quelques objects de la collection David Weill," Revue des arts asiatiques 8, no. 3 (1934), pl. 53: 4; Musée de l'Orangerie, Arts de la Chine ancienne (Paris: Musée de L'Orangerie, 1937), cat. 86; Max Loehr, Chinese Bronze Age Weapons: The Werner Jannings Collection in the Chinese National Palace Museum, Peking (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1956), p. 49, fig. 43.

[1] Liang Siyong 梁思永 and Gao Quxun 高去尋, Houjiazhuang: Henan Anyang Houjiazhuang Yindai mudi 侯家莊：河南安陽侯家莊殷代墓地, vol. 4, Tomb 1003 (Taibei: Zhongyang yanjiuyuan lishi yuyan yanjiusuo, 1967), pl. 93: 2--6.)

[2] Zhongguo kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo Anyang fajuedui 中國科學院考古研究所安陽發掘隊, "1975 nian Anyang Yinxu de xin faxian 1975年安陽殷墟的新發現," Kaogu 考古 1976.4, p. 267, fig. 8: 3, pl. 8: 5.

[3] The D. David Weill Collection: Early Chinese Bronzes: Inlaid Metalwork, Gilt Bronzes and Silver, Jades, Sculpture and Ceramics, February 29, 1972 (London: Sotheby, 1972), lot. 24.

Published References

Sotheby's. The D. David-Weill Collection: Catalogue of Early Chinese Bronzes, Inlaid Metalwork, Gilt Bronzes and Silver, Jades, and Sculpture and Ceramics. London, February 29, 1972. lot 24.
Georges Salles. Arts de La Chine Ancienne. Exh. cat. Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris, 1934. no. 86.
Olov Jansen. Le Style du Houai et ses Affinites: Notes a Propos de quelques objects de la collection David-Weill. vol. 8, no. 3 Paris. pl 53, p. 4.
J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
Max Loehr. Chinese Bronze Age Weapons: The Werner Jannings Collection in the Chinese National Palace Museum, Peking. Ann Arbor. p. 49, fig. 43.

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Miniature hafted dagger-axe (ge 戈)

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