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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.50.80
Title
Small Jade Dagger-Axe with Crenelated Butt
Other Titles
Alternate Title: ko
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
dagger-axe
Date
12th 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/204919

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Mottled olive-green and light green nephrite, with traces of cinnabar and soil adhering to the surface
Dimensions
15.1 x 4.7 x 0.3 cm (5 15/16 x 1 7/8 x 1/8 in.)
31 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. 44 by Max Loehr:

44 Small Dagger-Axe with Crenelated Butt
Mottled olive-green and light green jade, with traces of cinnabar and soil adhering to the surface. The blade is strongly curved, its median crest emphasized by hollow-grinding. The edges are rather inarticulately beveled. A band of incised lozenges, filled with smaller lozenges and triangles, connects the very slightly marked shoulders. The crest and the hollowing out of the surfaces continue to the butt, which terminates in a row of five rudely cut, angular notches. Late Shang or Western Chou.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.50.80
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Dorothy W. Gillerman, ed., Grenville L. Winthrop: Retrospective for a Collector, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, 1969), no. 005, pp. 6-7, , repr.
  • 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. 44, p. 62

Exhibition History

  • S427: Ancient Chinese Bronzes and Jades, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 10/20/1985 - 04/30/2008

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