Biconvex Jade Knife | Harvard Art Museums

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 1943.50.60
Title: Biconvex Jade Knife
Classification: Ritual Implements
Work Type: knife
Date: Longshan culture (?), c. 2500 - c. 2000 BCE
Places: Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period: Neolithic period
Culture: Chinese
Persistent Link: https://hvrd.art/o/204892

Physical Descriptions

Medium: Greenish-black nephrite
Dimensions: H. 38.7 x W. 7.8 x D. 0.6 cm (15 1/4 x 3 1/16 x 1/4 in.)
Weight 389 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. 217 by Max Loehr:

217 Biconvex Knife
The shape of this greenish black blade recalls the trapezoidal knives, but the left edge is curved and the proportions are different. Both the back and the cutting edge are perfectly straight. There are four conical holes along the back, all drilled from the same side; a fifth hole, place along the median close to the fourth one, is drilled from the reverse side. Possibly the blade was originally larger, and was later recut. Western Chou(?).

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop

Accession Year

1943

Object Number

1943.50.60

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. 217, pp. 168

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

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