Object: Harvesting knife (hu 笏), fragment F1917.392

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: 39.1 x 7.1 x 0.6 cm (15 3/8 x 2 13/16 x 1/4 in)

Origin: China

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1917.392

: 笏（殘損）
新石器時代晚期（公元前5000--1700年）
中國
软玉
高7.1、寬39.1、厚0.6釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾贈送
器物編號：F1917.392

Provenance: Reportedly excavated in Shensi province [1]

To 1917
You Xiaoxi (late 19th-early 20th century), Shanghai, to 1917 [2]

From 1917 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from You Xiaoxi in 1917 [3]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [4]

Notes:

[1] According to Curatorial Remark 2 in the object record.

[2] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1332, pg. 306, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[3] See note 2.

[4] 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: Ceremonial implement; blade form with one long and one short, beveled cutting edge; three conical perforations near upper edge, one near notched handle, also a small circular depression, the outline of a fifth perforation; longitudinal shallow groove down one surface; black with olive-green markings and silver specks; tool marks; lustrous surface. (Edge broken at handle.)

Acquired with a box, now lost.

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought from Seaouke Yue [You Xiaoxi] 游筱溪, of Shanghai 上海. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 306. $175.

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Hsia [Xia] 夏. See further, S.I. 1332, Appendix VIII. Excavated in Shensi [Shaanxi] 陝西 province.

3. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 2.992. Nephrite.

4. (Archibald Gibson Wenley, 1946) Shang 商 dynasty. For discussion of type, see folder F1916.244 (Carl Whiting Bishop), note 3.

5. (Thomas Lawton, 1978) Late Shang 商--early Western Chou [Zhou] 周.

6. (Julia K. Murray, 1982) This blade is similar in shape and proportions to a slightly larger example excavated at Shih mao [Shimao] 石峁, Shen mu [Shenmu] 神木, Shensi [Shaanxi] 陝西 (Tai Ying-hsin [Dai Yingxin] 戴應新, "Shensi Shen-mu hsien Shih-mao Lung-shan wen-hua i-chih tiao-ch'a [Shaanxi Shenmu xian Shimao Longshan wenhua yizhi diaocha] 陝西神木縣石峁龍山文化遺址調查," K'ao ku [Kaogu] 考古 1977.3, p. 155, fig. 3:1). Another comparable example, made of ordinary stone, came from Liang ch'eng chen [Liangchengzhen] 兩城鎮, Jih chao [Rizhao] 日照, Shantung [Shandong] 山東 (Liu Tun-yuan [Liu Dunyuan] 劉敦願, "Chi Liang-ch'eng chen i-chih fa-hsien ti liang chien shih-ch'I [Ji Liangcheng zhen yizhi faxian de liangjian shiqi] 記兩城鎮遺址發現的兩件石器," K'ao ku [Kaogu] 考古 1972.4, p. 57, fig. 3).

For 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 from "Ceremonial implement; blade form with a long and short cutting edge" to "Harvesting knife (hu 笏), fragment."

9. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, April 21, 2016) Period changed from Shang or Western Zhou dynasty with object date of ca. 1600-771 BCE to Late Neolithic period with object date of ca. 5000-ca. 1700 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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