Jades for Life and Death

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Historical period(s): Late Neolithic period, ca. 2000-1700 BCE

Object Date: ca. 2000-1700 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 15.8 x 22.6 x 0.6 cm (6 3/16 x 8 7/8 x 1/4 in) Diam (hole): 1.4 cm (9/16 in)

Origin: China

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1917.78

: 斧
新石器時代晚期（公元前5000--1700年）
中國
軟玉
高22.6、寬15.8、厚0.6釐米
孔徑1.4釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾贈送
器物編號：F1917.78

Provenance: To 1917
Li Wenqing (late 19th-early 20th century), Shanghai, to 1917 [1]

From 1917 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Li Wenqing, in New York, in 1917 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1165, pg. 267, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. See also, Voucher No. 18, December 1916.

[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): Li Wenqing 李文卿 (C.L. Freer source) (ca. 1869-1931)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

Description: Ceremonial object of axe head shape, of the type fu 斧 or yueh [yue] 鉞; broad and flat with rounded blade edge, sides tapering to a square end with curved boring on edge and a conical perforation directly under it; semitranslucent, richly mottled dark greens with iridescent patches and scattered areas of dull red; wide shallow groove on one surface; upper edge rough; mirror like surface.

Past label text: Ancient Chinese Art, May 9, 1993–May 18, 1998; by Jenny F. So (shown with F1916.512)
Ritual axe
China, Liangzhu 良渚 culture
Neolithic period, ca 3000–2500 BCE
Jade (nephrite)

Large, thinly sliced, highly polished axes like this one 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 (F1916.512). A pin driven through the hole at the side of the oval depression on the fitting should have secured the shaft in place.

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

Jade (nephrite)
China, Liangzhu culture, late Neolithic period (ca. 3300–2250 BCE)
Gift of Charles Lang Freer F1917.78

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 Lee Van Ching [Li Wenqing] 李文卿, of Shanghai 上海. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 267. $300.

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Han 漢. See further, S.I. 1165, Appendix VIII.

3. (John Ellerton Lodge, 1940) Chou [Zhou] 周 dynasty.

4. (Archibald Gibson Wenley, 1945) Chou [Zhou] 周 dynasty.

5. (Thomas Lawton, 1978) Early Western Chou [Zhou] 周.

6. (Julia K. Murray, 1980) Attribution is changed from Early Western Chou [Zhou] 周 to Neolithic, ca. 2000 BCE.

7. (Julia K. Murray, 1982) Changed from type kuei [gui] 圭 to fu 斧 or yueh [yue] 鉞. For a general discussion of jade axes, see Folder Sheet F1918.35. In overall shape, the axe F1917.78 is related to the quartz axe F1919.39, differing from the latter in being larger, somewhat more elongated in its proportions, very thin, and perforated by a smaller hole. Not noted in the general description of F1917.78 is the appearance of an arc shaped indentation on the butt, which may represent an attempt to drill another hole. If so, perhaps the original slab of jade was slightly larger than the present axe. A jade axe from tomb M60 at Ta tun tzu [Dadunzi] 大墩子, P'i hsien [Pixian] 邳縣, Kiangsu [Jiangsu] 江蘇, which is somewhat similar in shape to F1917.78 although not as wide, also has a broken second hole at the butt; it belongs to the Hua t'ing [Huating] 花廳 culture of the Shantung [Shandong] 山東North Kiangsu [Jiangsu] 江蘇 Neolithic (reproduced in Nanking po-wu-yuan [Nanjing bowuyuan] 南京博物院, "Kiangsu P'i hsien Ta-tun-tzu i-chih ti-erh-tz'u fa-chueh [Jiangsu Pixian Dadunzi yizhi dierci fajue] 江蘇邳縣大墩子遺址第二次發掘," K'ao ku hsueh chi k'an [Kaoguxue jikan] 考古學集刊 1 [1981], pl. 9:3). A slightly smaller jade axe (1943.50.1) in the Fogg Art Museum (Max Loehr, Ancient Chinese jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University [Cambridge, MA: Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, 1975], cat. 13, called Shang [?]) is the same shape but has a large hole.

8. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, February 8, 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.

9. (Stephen Allee, June 11, 2008) Added designation "nephrite" to Medium as per Elizabeth West Fitzhugh in March 1956, as determined by x ray diffraction.

10. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 17, 2008) Ceremonial object added as secondary classification.

11. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, June 10, 2010) Deleted "Liangzhu 良渚 culture"; deleted "Lake Tai 太湖 region" from geographical location; changed date from 3300--2250 BCE to "ca. 2000--1700 BCE."

Published References

Sueji Umehara. Shina kogyoku zuroku [Selected Specimens of Chinese Archaic Jade]. Kyoto, 1955. pl. 25.
Geoffrey WIlls. Jade of the East., 1st ed. New York, 1972. fig. 29.
J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
Julia Murray. Neolithic Chinese Jades in the Freer Gallery of Art. vol. 14, no. 11 Hong Kong, November 1983. p. 22.

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