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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.51.15
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 - 11th cent. BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Shang dynasty, c. 1600-c. 1050 BCE
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/204592

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Clouded olive-green nephrite blade; bronze haft inlaid with turquoise
Technique
Inlaid
Dimensions
25.5 x 4.4 x 0.4 cm (10 1/16 x 1 3/4 x 3/16 in.)
unspecified: 168 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. 81 by Max Loehr:

81 Jade Dagger-Axe in a Bronze Haft with Curved Butt
Slight, crested, and hollow-ground blade of clouded olive green jade with out-curving longitudinal bevels and a sharp point. The blade is fitted into a bronze socket of unusual shape, with prongs designed to accommodate the blade, which itself is tanged. The socket is decorated with a turquoise inlaid t’ao-t’ieh mask in a raised, rectangular field. The bronze haft has the usual vertical bar and perforated hafting section; its curved butt is shaped as a bird figure with a monstrously large beak and two small crests above the eye—a motif familiar from bronze ko. On the right side of the dagger-axe, a large part of the inlay has disappeared under a heavy crust of bronze oxide, especially at the socket, where the ornament is invisible. Shang.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.51.15
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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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. 81, p. 80

Related Works

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or 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