Object: Axe, probably reworked from a collared disk S2012.9.269

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: 9.2 × 9 × 0.3 cm (3 5/8 × 3 9/16 × 1/8 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: S2012.9.269

: 鉞，似由有領璧後期加工而成
晚商安陽時期（公元前1250-1050年）
中國，疑似河南安陽市
軟玉
高9.1、寬9.3、厚0.3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：S2012.9.269

Provenance: To 1982
S. N. Ferris Luboshez (1896-1984) [1]

1982
Sale, New York, Sotheby Parke Bernet Inc., Chinese and Japanese Works of Art, November 20, 1982, Sale #4966, lot 358: “Small Archaic Jade Axe" [2]

To 1997
Dr. Paul Singer (1904-1997), Summit, New Jersey [3]

From 1997 to 1999
In the custody of Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, DC [4]

From 1999
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 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 [5]

Notes:

[1] See auction catalogue from the Sotheby Parke Bernet Inc., New York, November 20, 1982, Sale #4966.

[2] See note 1.

[3] See object record.

[4] Between 1997 and 1999, The Dr. Paul Singer Collection of Chinese Art was in the custody of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington DC

[5] See “The Dr. Paul Singer Collection of Chinese Art Gift Agreement” from March 1999, Collections Management Office. The object was formally accessioned into the museum’s permanent collection in 2012. See Acquisition Consideration Form, object file, Collections Management Office.

Previous owner(s): Sergius N. Ferris Luboshez (1896-1984)
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)

Fitting in the form of a bird; Pendants: Dragon and Fish
Anyang period, ca. 1250–1050 BCE
Jade (nephrite)
Gift of Arthur M. Sackler S1987.841, S1987.874, and S1987.633

Pair of fish pendants
Anyang period, ca. 1250–1050 BCE
Jade (nephrite)
Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment F1979.26–27

Disk, Bracelet, Miniature dagger-axe, and Axe pendant
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 S2012.9.228, S2012.9.230, S2012.9.275, and S2012.9.269

Round axe
Anyang period, ca. 1250–1050 BCE
Jade (nephrite)
Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer F1970.39

Objects Made for Reuse?
The dimensions, shape, and formal details of many Anyang jades indicate they were made from collared disks of the same time and place. Some were cut from segments of the disk while others exploited the central collar or the junction of the vertical and horizontal planes to create more interesting forms like projecting fins on a fish. The frequency and variety of this practice suggests collared disks may have been intended for reuse, functioning almost like an industrial blank. If true, this reflects a two-stage production process that valued speed, conservation of valuable material, and an interest in standardizing forms and scale.

Curatorial Remarks

1. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 8, 2008) Ceremonial object added as secondary classification.

2. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 15, 2017) Title changed from "Disk (bi), fragment, reworked to make an axehead (fu)" to "Axe (yue 鉞), probably reworked from a collared disk"; period one changed from "Erlitou culture or early Shang dynasty" to "Late Shang dynasty"; period two added "Anyang period"; date changed from "ca. 2000-1300 BCE" to "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE"; geography changed from "China" to "China, probably Henan province, Anyang"; and medium changed from "Jade" to "Jade (nephrite)".

3. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, January 28, 2019) Added Chinese translation by Jingmin Zhang; and moved unpublished research by Louis Fitzgerald Huber from curatorial remarks to the text entry field.
4. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, April 2, 2020) Erlitou culture removed as Constituent.
5. (YinYing Chen per Keith Wilson, February 22, 2023)
Change title from "Axe (yue 鉞), probably reworked from a collared disk" to "Axe, probably reworked from a collared disk."
Change date from "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE" to "ca. 1250-ca. 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. 95) for S2012.9.269 for the catalogue of the Singer collection (1970--90); by Louisa Fitzgerald Huber
Axe
Shang 商 dynasty, 13th--12th century BCE
Jade
Height 9 cm (32 in)

The most unusual feature of this axe--the strongly crescentic butt--indicates that the piece was fashioned from the section of a large disk, with the butt retaining the shape of the disk's central perforation, while the sharpened cutting edge has been reshaped from its outer perimeter. The piece is not, however, a true disk axe, which, by definition, would be formed from a complete disk. [1] Symmetrically arranged low notches on the flaring lateral sides are less sharply articulated on one side of the axe than on the other. A small, biconical hole appears at the top center. The axe has been broken into two parts along a jagged diagonal line. The part seen on the upper left in the present photograph is faintly greenish in tone, while the larger fragment is uniformly cream colored, suggesting that the two pieces must have lain separate from one another in the ground.

Note:

[1] Max Loehr, Ancient Chinese Jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University (Cambridge, MA: Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, 1975), nos. 22--23.

Published References

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

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Axe, probably reworked from a collared disk

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