Object: Dagger-axe (ge 戈), fragment S2012.9.259

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Historical period(s): Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty, ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE

Object Date: ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D (overall): 3.7 x 13.8 x 0.2 cm (1 7/16 x 5 7/16 x 1/16 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: S2012.9.259

戈（殘損）
晚商安陽時期（公元前1300-1050年）
中國，疑似河南安陽市
軟玉
高3.7、寬13.8、厚0.2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：S2012.9.259

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 355: “Archaic Jade Dagger 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 sale of 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.

Previous owner(s): Sotheby's (New York)
Sergius N. Ferris Luboshez (1896-1984)
Dr. Paul Singer (1904-1997)

Curatorial Remarks

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

2. (Daisy Yiyou Wang 王依悠, June 9, 2012) A number of jade ge 戈 showing diagonal cuts of the tang corners were published in Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo 中國社會科學院考古研究所, Yinxu Fu Hao mu 殷墟婦好墓 (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1980), pls. 110: 1 (483), 113: 1 (1047).

3. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 17, 2017) Title changed from "Pendant in the form of a dagger-axe (ge)" to "Dagger axe (ge 戈), fragment"; geography changed from "China" to "China, probably Henan province, Anyang"; medium changed from "Jade" to "Jade (nephrite)"; and dimensions changed from "H x W x D (overall): 13.8 x 3.7 x 0.2 cm (5 7/16 x 1 7/16 x 1/16 in)" to "H x W x D (overall): 3.7 x 13.8 x 0.2 cm (1 7/16 x 5 7/16 x 1/16 in)".

4. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, February 5, 2019) Added Chinese translation by Jingmin Zhang; added unpublished research by Louisa Fitzgerald Huber; and title changed from "Dagger axe (ge 戈), fragment" to "Dagger-axe (ge 戈), fragment."

Unpublished Research: Draft catalogue entry (no. 90) for S2012.9.259 for the catalogue of the Singer collection (1970--90); by Louisa Fitzgerald Huber
Dagger-axe
Shang 商 dynasty, 14th--12th century BCE
Jade
Length 13.7 cm (5 3/8 in)

The curved, asymmetrical blade is beveled along the upper and lower edges and sharpened to a point. A diagonal cut shapes the upper corner of the tang. Along the median ridge at the base of the tang is a small biconical perforation. The stone, which has become opaque and white, shows stains of a reddish pigment and traces of soil.

Published References

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

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Dagger-axe (ge 戈), fragment

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