1943.50.72: Heavy Jade Dagger-Axe
Ritual ImplementsIdentification and Creation
- Object Number
- 1943.50.72
- Title
- Heavy Jade Dagger-Axe
- Other Titles
- Alternate Title: ko
- Classification
- Ritual Implements
- Work Type
- dagger-axe
- Date
- 16th-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/204927
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Black serpentine
- Dimensions
-
H. 27.4 x W. 7.8 x D. 1 cm (10 13/16 x 3 1/16 x 3/8 in.)
Weight 334 g - Technical Details
-
Technical Observations:
Raman Spectroscopy
Raman was performed by Katherine Eremin, and the object was identified as antigorite (a serpentine mineral).
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. 26 by Max Loehr:
26 Heavy Dagger-Axe
Black stone, mottled with greenish gray. The blade, rhombic in cross-section, has a median crest which descends gradually toward the point. The tang is flat and sharply set off from the blade; it widens toward the butt and is perforated in the middle by a biconical hole. The surfaces of this ko are beautifully polished. It is a rare type, and unique in this collection. Shang.
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
- Accession Year
- 1943
- Object Number
- 1943.50.72
- 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. 26, p. 53
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