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: 10.3 x 11.7 x 0.8 cm (4 1/16 x 4 5/8 x 5/16 in) Diam (hole): 1.4 cm (9/16 in)

Origin: China, Lake Tai region

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1918.34

: 斧
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11.7、寬10.3、厚0.8釐米
孔徑1.4釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾贈送
器物編號：F1918.34

Provenance: To 1918
Wang Jiantang, Shanghai to 1918 [1]

From 1918 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Wang Jiantang, in New York, in 1918 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1362, pg. 315, 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: Trapezoidal axe (fu 斧 or yueh [yue] 鉞); beveled blade and conical perforation; one surface mottled reddish browns with silvery film of decomposition; opposite surface cream gray coating with reddish area along blade. (Corners and edges chipped.)

Acquired with a box, now lost.

Curatorial Remarks

1. Bought from K. T. Wong [Wang Jiantang] 王鑑堂 of Shanghai 上海, in New York. For price, see Original Miscellaneous List, p. 324. $150.

2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Hsia [Xia] 夏. See further, S.I. 1362, Appendix IX.

3. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 2.906.

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

5. (Elisabeth West Fitzhugh, 1956) X ray diffraction analysis. Nephrite. Film F 135. February 29, 1956.

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

7. (Julia K. Murray, 1982) For a general discussion of jade axes, see Folder Sheet F1918.35.

8. (Stephen Allee per Keith Wilson, March 3, 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. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 17, 2008) Ceremonial object added as secondary classification.

10. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, April 20, 2010) Title changed from "Axe (fu 斧 or yue 鉞)" to "Axe (fu 斧)."

11. (Jeffrey Smith per Janet Douglas, June 17, 2010) Nephrite added as modifier to existing medium of "jade" based on conservation analysis.

12. (Jeffrey Smith, April 4, 2016) Transferred from Description: Trapezoidal axe (fu, or yueh). Beveled blade and conical perforation; one surface mottled reddish browns with silvery film of decomposition; opposite surface cream gray coating with reddish area along blade. Corners and edges chipped. Box.

Published References

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

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Axe (fu 斧)

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