Jades for Life and Death

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Maker(s): Artist: Liangzhu culture 良渚 (ca. 3300-ca. 2250 BCE)

Historical period(s): Late Neolithic period, ca. 3300-2250 BCE

Object Date: ca. 3300-2250 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 3.2 x 7.2 x 2.4 cm (1 1/4 x 2 13/16 x 15/16 in)

Origin: China, Lake Tai region

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1916.512

: 斧柄帽
新石器時代晚期良渚文化（公元前3300--2250年）
中國太湖地區
軟玉
高3.2、寬7.2、厚2.4釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾贈送
器物編號：F1916.512

Provenance: To 1916
You Xiaoxi, Shanghai, to 1916 [1]

From 1916 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from You Xiaoxi, in New York in 1916 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1058, pg. 236, 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): You Xiaoxi 游篠溪 (C.L. Freer source) (late 19th-early 20th century)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

Description: Sword fitting: Pommel of sword or dagger; in form of elongated oval block with projecting hollow and perforated shaft at the base, a plain painted oval form in relief on top is only decoration; mottled cream tones and black; smooth surface except for some rough and chipped areas.

Acquired with a box, now lost.

Past label text: 1. Ancient Chinese Art, May 9, 1993–May 18, 1998; by Jenny F. So (shown with F1917.78)
Ritual axe fitting
China, Liangzhu 良渚 culture
Neolithic period, ca. 3000–2500 BCE
Jade, altered by intense heat

Large, thinly sliced, highly polished axes like this one (F1917.78) were ceremonial weapons in ancient China. Used by and buried with leaders of the clan, they were symbols of military power. The blade was attached to an ornamented shaft made of wood, bone, or ivory. The ends of the shaft were then capped with jade fittings like the one displayed here. A pin driven through the hole at the side of the oval depression on the fitting should have secured the shaft in place.

2. Liangzhu 良渚 and its Legacy, November 4, 2010–January 3, 2016; by Keith Wilson (shown with F1998.4, F1916.498, F1919.39, F1968.48; bronze and jade halberds and jade forked blades shown in same case)
Axe shaft cap
China, Late Neolithic period, Liangzhu 良渚 culture, ca. 3300–2250 BCE
Jade (nephrite)

Functional tools and weapons, such as axes (fu 斧), forked blades (zhang 璋), and halberds (ge 戈), 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.

3. (Keith Wilson, "Afterlife: Ancient Chinese Jades," Gallery 19, Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Oct. 14, 2017 to Apr 15, 2018)

Axe shaft cap
China, Liangzhu culture, late Neolithic period (ca. 3300–2250 BCE),
Jade (nephrite)
Gift of of Charles Lang Freer F1916.512

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 Seaouke Yue [You Xiaoxi] 游筱溪, of Shanghai 上海, in New York. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 236. $100.

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Hsia [Xia] 夏. See further, S.I. 1058, Appendix VIII. See Paragraph 6.

3. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 2.765.

4. (Archibald Gibson Wenley, 1945) Ch'ing [Qing] 清 dynasty reproduction of early piece. The material is quite soft.

5. (William B. Trousdale, 1964) Shang 商 dynasty. See possibly related pieces discussed by Umehara (bibliography). Beautifully modelled and proportioned section of a hilt. Possibly it represents the blade socket and guard; the grip, continuing above, may have been broken and ground off to the oval relief area presently on the top. See Umehara Sueji 梅原末治, Shina kogyoku zuroku 支那古玉圖錄 (Kyoto: Kuwana bunseidō, 1955), p. 38, right.

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

7. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, February 5, 2008) On this date entered: Period One (Late Neolithic period), Date (3300--2250 BCE), Artist (Liangzhu 良渚 culture), Title, Object name, Geographical region (Lake Tai 太湖 region); plus Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database.

8. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 16, 2008) Weapon and Armament added as secondary classification.

9. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, April 20, 2010) Object name changed from "Weapon fitting" to "Ceremonial object." Title changed from "Axe shaft butt" to "Axe fitting."

10. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, December 2, 2010) Title changed from "Axe fitting" to "Axe shaft cap"; medium changed from "Jade" to "jade (nephrite)."

11. (Jeffrey Smith, April 4, 2016) Transferred from Description: Sword fitting: Pommel of sword or dagger; in form of elongated oval block with projecting hollow and perforated shaft at the base; a plain painted oval form in relief on top is only decoration; mottled cream tones and black; smooth surface except for some rough and chipped areas. Box.

Published References

You Xiaoxi, Hsiao-chi Yu in, Chi-Tseng Chang. "游筱溪." Masterpieces of Chinese National Art: The Collection of Mr. Seaouke'e Yue. Shanghai, 1916. no. 32a.
Umehara Sueji. "支那古玉圖錄." Shina kogyoku zuroku [Selected Specimens of Chinese Archaic Jade]. Kyoto, 1955. pl. 107, fig. 3.
J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
Umehara Sueji. Freer bijutsukan shuzo no takensogu no nisan. vol. 25, no. 3 Kyoto, 1930. pp. 264-267, figs. 3, 4.

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