Dagger-axe (ge 戈), fragment

1. Bought from Seaouke Yue [You Xiaoxi] 游筱溪, of Shanghai 上海, in New York. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 295.

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Chou [Zhou] 周. See further, S.I. 1305, Appendix VIII. Excavated from Shansi [Shanxi] 山西 province.

3. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 2.819.

4. (Archibald Gibson Wenley, 1946) Period uncertain. This may well be a modern forgery.

5. (Thomas Lawton, 1978) Late Shang 商. 

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

The proportions of the tang and fragmentary shank of this ko [ge] 戈 indicate that it was originally quite large.

7. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, June 17, 2008) As per Jenny F. So, Jade Project Database, changed Period one from "Shang 商 dynasty" to "Late Neolithic period"; changed date from "ca. 1600--1050 BCE" to "early 2nd millenium BCE"; added "Longshan 龍山 culture" as Artist; added Description. Changed Object Name from "Blade fragment (ko [ge] 戈)" to "Ceremonial object"; changed Title from "Fragment of ceremonial implement, of the type ko [ge] 戈" to "Fragment of dagger-axe (ge 戈)." Added designation "nephrite" to Medium as per Elizabeth W. Fitzhugh, as determined by x-ray diffraction in October 1956 and confirmed by Janet Douglas using infrared spectroscopy in March 1996. Added "middle Yellow river region" to Geographical Location. Added Dimensions per Christine Lee, from Jade Project Database. 
 
8. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 17, 2008) Ceremonial object added as secondary classification.
 
9. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, April 2, 2010) Title changed from "Fragment of dagger-axe (ge 戈)" to "Dagger-axe (ge 戈), fragment."

10. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, August 17, 2017) Title changed from "Dagger-axe (ge), fragment" to "Dagger axe (ge 戈), fragment"; Period One changed from "Late Neolithic period" to "Erlitou culture or early Shang dynasty"; Date changed from "early 2nd millenium BCE" to "ca. 2000-ca. 1400 BCE"; changed Geography from "Middle Yellow River region, China" to "China, probably Shaanxi province, but purportedly found at Shanxi"; Dimensions changed from "H x W x D: 29.4 x 9.5 x 0.7 cm (11 9/16 x 3 3/4 x 5/16 in)" to "H x W x D: 9.5 x 29.4 x 0.7 cm (3 3/4 x 11 9/16 x 5/16 in)".

11. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, February 5, 2019) Added Chinese Translation by Jingmin Zhang; changed Title from "Dagger axe (ge 戈), fragment" to "Dagger-axe (ge 戈), fragment".

Removed the following from the Description field, "(Jenny So, Jade Project Database) Fragment of ceremonial implement, of the type ge. A notched handle with circular perforation and a portion of the slightly curved blade with median ridge. Opaque black (nephrite) with traces of dark brown near perforation; smooth surface. Jagged break across blade, cracks. Chinese. Late Shang. Fragment of ceremonial implement, of the type "ko;" a notched handle with circular perforation and a portion of the slightly curved blade with median ridge; opaque black with traces of dark brown near perforation; smooth surface. Jagged break across blade, cracks. Box."

Added the following to the Description field, "Fragment of ceremonial implement, of the type ko [ge] 戈; a notched handle with circular perforation and a portion of the slightly curved blade with median ridge; opaque black with traces of dark brown near perforation; smooth surface. (Jagged break across blade; cracks.) Acquired with a box, now lost." Also, removed "Longshan culture" as a the artist from the constituent field.