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A blade of polished, carved jade, set in a bronze handle decorated with turquoise

Bone colored ivory is carved to a long rectangle shape with one side angled out to a blunt point. A central ridge runs lengthwise, and each edge is beveled from the hilt to the point. The blade is held in a bronze handle that is decorated with designs of inlaid turquoise. The socket is shaped like a shield and the turquoise forms a symmetrical, linear design of an abstract stylized mask. The end of the handle is curved, and its inlaid turquoise forms a curvilinear design of a dragon.

Gallery Text

At its most basic level, casting bronze entails pouring a molten mixture of copper and tin into a mold and letting the mixture harden as it cools. In ancient China, the actual process was quite complex and involved ceramics technology in virtually every step. First, a model of the desired shape was created in clay and fired in a kiln; next, fresh clay was packed around this ceramic model, removed in multiple sections, and fired; and finally, the hardened section molds created in this process were reassembled around a ceramic core with space set between core and molds, and molten bronze was poured into this assemblage. The production of bronzes in China was inextricably linked to the region’s millennia-long ceramics tradition — in its use of kiln technology, its adaptation of ceramic vessels for bronze vessel shapes (such as the tripod ewer displayed here), and the creation of a casting method reliant on a potter’s skills.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.51.12
Title
Jade Dagger-Axe in a Bronze Haft with Curved End
Other Titles
Alternate Title: ko
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
dagger-axe
Date
12th-11th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Shang dynasty, c. 1600-c. 1050 BCE
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/204563

Location

Location
Level 1, Room 1740, Early Chinese Art, Arts of Ancient China from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Bone-colored nephrite blade; bronze haft inlaid with turquoise
Technique
Inlaid
Dimensions
L. 30.0 x W. 6.1 x Thickness 0.7 cm (11 13/16 x 2 3/8 x 1/4 in.)
Weight 482 g

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Grenville L. Winthrop, New York (by 1943), bequest; to Fogg Art Museum, 1943.

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. 78 by Max Loehr:

78 Jade Dagger-Axe in a Bronze Haft with Curved Butt
Sturdy blade of bone-colored jade with grayish grains, showing no signs of calcification. It is provided with a crest, and is hollow-ground between the crest and the sharp bevels. The haft is of the same type as in No. 77, but the décor differs, and the turquoise inlay is preserved intact. On the shield-like socket appears a t’ao-t’ieh mask and on the curved butt, a convolute “dragon” figure; both are executed in a sparser inlay technique than in the case of Nos. 71, 72, and 73, for instead of cloisons, widely spaced grooves hold the particles. Shang or early Western Chou.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.51.12
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.

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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. 78, p. 78

Exhibition History

  • S427: Ancient Chinese Bronzes and Jades, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 10/20/1985 - 04/30/2008
  • Re-View: S228-230 Arts of Asia, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 05/31/2008 - 06/01/2013
  • 32Q: 1740 Early China I, Harvard Art Museums, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project

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