1. Bought from Abel William Bahr, London. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 157. $305.
2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Han 漢, or earlier. See further, S.I. 641, Appendix VII.
3. (Carl Whiting Bishop, 1922) Perhaps on whole more likely to be Chou [Zhou] 周 than Han 漢. Berthold Laufer, Jade: A study in Chinese archaeology and religion (Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1912), p. 116, follows Wu Ta ch'eng [Wu Dacheng] 吳大澂 in identifying this type with the imperial writing tablet known as hu 笏, but certainly its original purpose was otherwise. Laufer, loc. cit., says difficult to see purpose of perforations. Doubtful if these actually functional; more probably vestigial, representing method of lashing handle or grip along back in original stone knife; such knives found in prehistoric Chinese deposits and also a well known form among various existing primitive peoples, as, e.g., the Eskimo. See Berthold Laufer, Jade: A Study in Chinese Archaeology and Religion (Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1912), pl. VIII, fig. 40.
4. (Archibald Gibson Wenley, 1946) Shang 商 dynasty.
5. (Thomas Lawton, 1978) Western Chou [Zhou] 周. Late Shang 商.
6. (Julia K. Murray, 1982) The asymmetrical shape of this horizontal knife is a bit unusual, compared to other examples. Since the polish on the narrow end is somewhat more matte than elsewhere on the blade, it seems possible that it could have been broken and refinished. Both sides of the wide end show a faint straight cut mark.
For a further discussion see F1917.24.
7. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 8, 2008) Ceremonial Object added as secondary classification.
8. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, April 2, 2010) Object name changed from "Ceremonial implement" to "Ceremonial object"; title changed from "Ceremonial implement" to "Harvesting knife (hu 笏)."
9. (Jeffrey Smith per Janet Douglas, June 17, 2010) Nephrite added as modifier to existing medium of "jade" based on conservation analysis.
10. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, April 21, 2016) Period changed from Shang dynasty with object date ca. 1600-1050 BCE to Late Neolithic period, with object date ca. 5000-ca.1700 BCE.
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