Object: Harvesting knife (hu 笏), fragment F1916.375

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Historical period(s): Late Neolithic period, ca. 3000-1700 BCE

Object Date: ca. 3000-1700 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 7.4 × 32.4 × 0.6 cm (2 15/16 × 12 3/4 × 1/4 in)

Origin: Northwest China

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1916.375

: 笏（殘損）
新石器時代晚期,公元前3000--1700年
中國
軟玉
高7.4、寬32.4、厚0.6釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾贈送
器物編號:F1916.375

Provenance: To 1916
Wang Jiantang, Shanghai to 1916 [1]

From 1916 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Wang Jiantang in 1916 [2]

From 1920
The Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1015, pg. 218, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[2] See note 1.

[3] 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): Wang Jiantang 王鑑堂 (C.L. Freer source) (late 19th-early 20th century)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

Description: Ceremonial implement; comb shaped blade with one semicircular beveled edge, one straight edge; five conical perforations; semitranslucent; broadly mottled green, cream, and golden tans; circular saw marks. (Broken and mended; irregularities and strata cracks.)

Acquired with a box, now lost.

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought from K. T. Wong [Wang Jiantang] 王鑑堂, of Shanghai 上海. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 218.

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Han 漢. See further, S.I. 1015, Appendix VIII (see Paragraph 6).

3. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Repaired by S. Mikami, 1929.

4. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 3.001. Nephrite.

5. (Isabel Ingram Mayer, 1946) Chou [Zhou] 周 dynasty. For discussion of type, see Folder Sheet F1916.244 (Carl Whiting Bishop), note 3.

6. (H. Elise Buckman, 1964) The Envelope File contained no further information, and has now been destroyed.

7. (Julia K. Murray, 1982) The three inner holes are drilled from one side and the two outer holes from the opposite side of the slab. Hayashi Minao would date F1916.375 to the Neolithic period because of its shape and the arc shaped saw marks, but the workmanship does not seem consistent with that era. F1916.632 is very similar to F19 16.375 in type of stone, general shape, and rounding of edges.

For a further discussion, see F1917.24.

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

9. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, June 14, 2010) Object name and Title changed from "Ceremonial implement" to "Ceremonial object."

10. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 15, 2017) Title changed from "Ceremonial object" to "Harvesting knife (hu 笏), fragment"; Period One changed from "Western Zhou dynasty" to "Late Neolithic period"; Date changed from "ca. 1050-770 BCE" to "ca. 3000-ca. 1700 BCE"; and Medium changed from "Jade" to "Jade (nephrite)".

11. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, November 27, 2018) Description changed from "Chinese Western Chou dynasty; Ceremonial implement; comb-shaped blade with one semi-circular beveled edge, one straight edge; five conical perforations; semitranslucent; broadly mottled green, cream and golden tans; circular saw marks. Broken and mended, irregularities and strata cracks. Box." to "Ceremonial implement; comb shaped blade with one semicircular beveled edge, one straight edge; five conical perforations; semitranslucent; broadly mottled green, cream, and golden tans; circular saw marks. (Broken and mended; irregularities and strata cracks.) Acquired with a box, now lost." Removed the Artist Constituent, "Qijia culture, ca. 2250 - ca. 1900 BCE".

Published References

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

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Harvesting knife (hu 笏), fragment

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