1943.51.14: Jade Dagger-Axe in a Bronze Haft with Curved Butt
Ritual ImplementsIdentification and Creation
- Object Number
- 1943.51.14
- Title
- Jade Dagger-Axe in a Bronze Haft with Curved Butt
- Other Titles
- Alternate Title: ko
- Classification
- Ritual Implements
- Work Type
- dagger-axe
- Date
- 16th cent. BCE - 14th cent. BCE
- Places
- Creation Place: East Asia, China
- Period
- Shang dynasty, c. 1600-c. 1050 BCE
- Culture
- Chinese
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/204558
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Creamy yellow, slightly translucent nephrite blade; bronze haft
- Dimensions
-
23 x 7.5 x 0.5 cm (9 1/16 x 2 15/16 x 3/16 in.)
unspecified: 171 g
Published Text
- Catalogue
- Ancient Chinese Jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University
- Authors
- Max Loehr and Louisa G. Fitzgerald Huber
- Publisher
- Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1975)
Catalogue entry no. 80 by Max Loehr:
80 Jade Dagger-Axe in a Bronze Haft with Curved Butt
Small, crested blade with outward-curving longitudinal bevels, fashioned of a creamy yellow, slightly translucent jade. Near the tip, the blade has begun to calcify; the point is broken off. The blade is inserted into a very short, rectangular, plain socket behind which is a hafting bar and a sloping butt. The butt is decorated with a “dragon” figure in cloisons, similar to No. 79, but without any inlay. Along the back of the butt, the metal is thoroughly mineralized; across the hafting section, by contrast, the bronze still gleams yellow. Apparently the metal was protected here by the wooden shaft, remnants of which, in a mineralized state, still adhere. Shang.
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
- Accession Year
- 1943
- Object Number
- 1943.51.14
- Division
- Asian and Mediterranean Art
- Contact
- am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
- Permissions
-
THIS WORK MAY NOT BE LENT BY THE TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION TO THE HARVARD ART MUSEUMS.
The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.
Publication History
- Max Loehr and Louisa G. Fitzgerald Huber, Ancient Chinese Jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University (Cambridge, MA, Fogg Art Museum, 1975)., cat. no. 80, p. 79
Related Objects
Verification Level
This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu