Object: Dagger-axe (ge 戈), fragment reworked F1915.108

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Maker(s): Artist: Erlitou culture 二里頭 (ca. 2000-1600 BCE)

Historical period(s): Erlitou culture or early Shang dynasty, ca. 2000-ca. 1400 BCE

Object Date: ca. 2000-ca. 1400 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 8.6 x 31.4 x 0.8 cm (3 3/8 x 12 3/8 x 5/16 in)

Origin: China, probably Henan province

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1915.108

: 戈（殘損后另加工）
二里頭文化(公元前2000 1600年)或早商(公元前1600-1400年)
中國,疑似河南省
軟玉
高8.6、寬31.4、厚0.8厘米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾贈送
器物編號：F1915.108

Provenance: To 1915
Marcel Bing (1875-1920), Paris, France [1]

1915
Eugene Meyer (1875-1959) and Agnes E. Meyer (1887-1970), Washington, DC and Mt. Kisco, NY purchased on behalf of Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919) from Marcel Bing through C. T. Loo of Lai Yuan & Co., New York in early December 1915 [2]

1915 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Eugene Meyer on December 14, 1915 [3]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [4]

Notes:

[1] Bing's ownership is documented in several locations. See, for example: November 11, 1915 letter from Marcel Bing to Charles Lang Freer; letters from December 10 and 15 from Eugene Meyer to Charles Lang Freer; telegrams exchanged between Marcel Bing, Charles Lang Freer, and Eugene Meyer dating from November 15 to December 5, 1915; February 2, 1916 letter from Charles Lang Freer to Marcel Bing; and Freer Gallery of Art Original Bronze List S.I. 676. Copies of aforementioned documents in object file.

[2] Eugene Meyer, Agnes E. Meyer, and Charles Lang Freer negotiated with Marcel Bing to arrange a joint purchase of Bing's collection of 11 Chinese bronzes and 1 jade. See correspondence cited in note 1. The Meyers and Freer decided to divide the collection - Meyers acquiring 5 bronzes and Freer acquiring 6 bronzes in addition to the jade -- and the price, calculating each party's payment was based on the appraisal values assigned to each piece. The Meyers ultimately sent the entire payment to C. T. Loo, Lai Yuan & Company (sometimes spelled Lai-Yuan), who in turn wired money to Bing. Meyers made the payment in early December 1915, with Freer paying the Meyers for the objects destined for his collection on December 14, 1915. See also: Freer Gallery of Art, Original Bronze List, S. I. 670; invoices from Lai Yuan & Company addressed to Mr. & Mrs. Eugene Meyer and Mr. Charles L. Freer; and Dorota Chudzicka, "'In Love at First Sight Completely, Hopelessly, and Forever with Chinese Art': The Eugene and Agnes Meyer Collection of Chinese Art at the Freer Gallery of Art" in Collections Vol. 10, No. 3 (Summer 2014), p. 334-335, copies in object file. All the objects included in this large sale, which were originally divided between the Meyers and Freer are now in the museum's collection ( F1915.102; F1915.03a-b; F1915.104; F1915.105; F1915.106a-f; F1915.107; F1915.108; F1961.30a-b; F1961.32a-b; F1968.28; F1968.29).

[3] See Original Bronze List, S.I. 676, copy in object file. See also note 2.

[4] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Previous owner(s): C. T. Loo 盧芹齋 (1880-1957)
Lai-Yuan & Company (C.L. Freer source) (ca. 1915-April 1921)
Marcel Bing (1875-1920)
Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer ((1875-1959) and (1887-1970))
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

Description: Ceremonial weapon of the type ko [ge] 戈; light gray with green cast, pale yellow and blue mottlings; two conical perforations in the tang, drilled from opposite sides of the blade; incised and channeled lines on butt and tang; pointed end and two cutting edges. (Slightly chipped.)

Past label text: 1. Liangzhu and its Legacy, November 4, 2010–January 3, 2016; by Keith Wilson (shown with F1917.396 and F1919.61; other jade forked blades and axes shown in same case)

Halberds
Late Shang dynasty, Anyang period, ca. 1300–1050 BCE
China
Jade (nephrite)

Functional tools and weapons, such as axes (fu), forked blades (zhang), and halberds (ge), inspired ceremonial forms that probably served as symbols of power. Typically made too thin for actual farming, hunting, or warfare, these luxury objects were also made too large for practical use but are quite suitable for display. Bored holes indicate where the blades may have been attached to perpendicular shafts as handles. Latest of all, the jade halberds resemble bronze weapons and show the custom of making ceremonial jades based upon functional objects continued after the Neolithic period.

2. Afterlife: Ancient Chinese Jades, October 14, 2017–present; by Keith Wilson (shown with F1919.13, F1919.61, F1919.17, and F1917.396; other jade forked blades and axes shown in the same case)

Halberds
Late Shang dynasty, Anyang period, ca. 1300–1050 BCE
China
Jade (nephrite)

From Weapons to Emblems
These tools and weapons look like real axes (fu), halberds (ge), and other practical items, but in fact they are purely symbols of power. Made of brittle jade with a remarkably thin edge, the items were intended only for display.

The custom of making ceremonial jades that look like familiar objects continued well after the Neolithic period. The thin, forked blades at the top and the halberds below them are not found in Liangzhu burials. They instead represent innovations associated with later cultures to the north, west, and southwest.

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought from Lai yuan and Company 來遠公司, New York. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 160.

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Han 漢 or earlier. See further, S.I. 676, Appendix VII.

3. (Carl Whiting Bishop, 1922) See Berthold Laufer, Jade: A Study in Chinese Archaeology and Religion (Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1912), pp. 40 et seq., on F1917.396 of this collection, a similar piece, but larger.

4. (John Ellerton Lodge, 1940) Early Chou [Zhou] 周.

5. (Isabel Ingram Mayer, 1945) Shang 商 dynasty.

6. (Julia K. Murray, 1982) For a general discussion of jade ko [ge] 戈, see Folder Sheet F1917.396.

Both of the perforations on this ko [ge] 戈 are off axis and thus the median ridge does not pass through them. The incised decoration consists of five pairs of projecting crenallations on the butt, and two pairs of shallower lines incised at right angles to the butt and passing through the rear perforation.

7. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, June 12, 2008) As per Jenny F. So, Jade Project Database, changed Date from (12th--11th century BCE) to (ca. 1600--ca. 1050 BCE); changed Object Name from "Weapon: halberd (ge 戈)" to "Ceremonial object"; changed Title to "Dagger-axe (ge 戈)." Added Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database. Added designation "nephrite" to Medium as per Elizabeth West Fitzhugh, August 1959, as determined by x-ray diffraction, and confirmed by Wen Guang 聞廣 in June 1997, as determined by infrared spectroscopy.

8. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 16, 2008) Ceremonial object added as secondary classification.

9. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, June 10, 2010) "Shang 商 Dynasty" changed to "Late Shang 商 Dynasty"; "Anyang 安陽 period" added to Period two; date changed from "ca. 1600--1050 BCE" to "ca. 1300--1050 BCE."

10. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 16, 2017) Title changed from "Dagger-axe (ge)" to "Dagger axe (ge 戈), fragment reworked"; Period One changed from "Late Shang dynasty" to "Erlitou culture or early Shang dynasty"; Date changed from "ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE" to "ca. 2000-ca. 1400 BCE"; deleted "Anyang period" from Period Two; Geography changed from "China" to "China, probably Henan province"; and Dimensions changed from "H x W x D: 31.4 x 8.6 x 0.8 cm (12 3/8 x 3 3/8 x 5/16 in)" to "H x W x D: 8.6 x 31.4 x 0.8 cm (3 3/8 x 12 3/8 x 5/16 in)".

11. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, February 1, 2019) Added Chinese Translation by Jingmin Zhang; added the following to the Description field, "Ceremonial weapon of the type ko [ge] 戈; light gray with green cast, pale yellow and blue mottlings; two conical perforations in the tang, drilled from opposite sides of the blade; incised and channeled lines on butt and tang; pointed end and two cutting edges. (Slightly chipped.)"

Added past Label Text from the exhibition, Liangzhu and its Legacy, November 4, 2010-January 3, 2016. Changed title from "Dagger axe (ge 戈), fragment reworked" to "Dagger-axe (ge 戈), fragment reworked".

Published References

J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
Dorota Chudzicka. In Love at First Sight Completely, Hopelessly, and Forever with Chinese Art: The Eugene and Agnes Meyer Collection of Chinese Art at the Freer Gallery of Art. vol. 10, no. 3, Summer 2004. 334-335.

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Dagger-axe (ge 戈), fragment reworked

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