Object: Straight chisel (gui 圭), fragment F1919.53

Classification: Ceremonial Object

Historical period(s): Shang dynasty, ca. 1600-1050 BCE

Object Date: ca. 1600-1050 BCE

Medium: Jade (nephrite)

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 51.2 × 9 × 1.5 cm (20 3/16 × 3 9/16 × 9/16 in)

Origin: China

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1919.53

: 圭（殘損）
商代（公元前1600-1050年）
中國
軟玉
高51.2、寬9、厚1.5釐米
查爾斯·蘭·佛利爾贈送
器物編號: F1919.53

Provenance: To 1919
You Xiaoxi (late 19th-early 20th century), Shanghai, to 1919 [1]

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

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1431, pg. 342, 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)

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. 342.
2. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Original attribution: Chinese. Chou [Zhou] 周. See further, S.I. 1431, Appendix IX.
3. (Carl Whiting Bishop, 1922) The incision along one edge appears to have been made with a metal saw.
4. (Isabel Ingram Mayer, 1945) Chou [Zhou] 周 dynasty.
5. (Undated Folder Sheet note) Sp. G. is 3.165. Jadeite.
6. (H. Elise Buckman, 1964) The Envelope File contained no further information, and has now been destroyed.
7. (Thomas Lawton, 1978) Someone started to slice this blade into two, but gave up the attempt. Late Shang 商.
8. (Julia K. Murray, 1982) Although F1919.53 is similar in size and shape to the group of horizontal knives represented by F1917.24, it would be more accurately described as a huge chisel (see Folder Sheet F1917.31) since the sharpened blade is the short end opposite the end with the single perforation. It is interesting that F1919.53 shows an abandoned attempt at slicing the blade into thinner slabs; from the spacing of the first incision, it would seem that the effort was intended to create three blades out of one. Hayashi Minao 林巳奈夫 believes that jades were sliced in antiquity to create matching tallies of official authority (Hayashi Minao 林巳奈夫, "Chūgoku kodai no ishibōchōkei gyokki to kotsusenkei gyokki 中國古代の石庖丁形玉器と骨鏟形玉器: Two Types of Prehistorical Chinese Ceremonial Jade Objects: Stone Harvesting Knives and Bone Spades," Tōhō gakuhō 東方學報 54 (1982): 1 81; in Japanese). It is possible that the attempt to slice this blade was given up because the corners broke off.
9. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, July 8, 2008) Ceremonial Object added as secondary classification.
10. (Susan Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, April 2, 2010) Object Name changed from "Ceremonial tablet" to "Ceremonial object." Title changed from "Ceremonial Tablet; very long, narrow form of the type kuei [gui] 圭" to "Straight chisel (gui) 圭."
11. (Jeffrey Smith per Janet Douglas, June 17, 2010) Nephrite added as modifier to existing Medium of "jade" based on conservation analysis.
12. (Najiba Choudhury per Keith Wilson, February 27, 2024) Changed Title from "Straight chisel (gui)" to "Straight chisel (gui 圭), fragment"; added Chinese caption by Jingmin Zhang; removed the following from the Description field "Chinese
Late Shang
Ceremonial tablet; very long, narrow form of the type "kuei," conical perforation; slightly beveled, dull blade edge; longitudinal incision along one edge; mottled dull olive green and olive brown with black streaks; proportions and cutting irregular; broad surfaces smooth. Edges broken. Box." Added the following to the Description field "Ceremonial tablet; very long, narrow form of the type kuei [gui] 圭, conical perforation; slightly beveled, dull blade edge; longitudinal incision along one edge; mottled dull olive green and olive brown with black streaks;
proportions and cutting irregular; broad surfaces smooth. (Edges broken.)
Acquired with a box, now lost."

Published References: Published References are currently unavailable.

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Straight chisel (gui 圭), fragment

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