An axe blade of carved ivory colored jade
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

A polished piece of jade colored ivory and light tan has been cut into a rectangular shape with rounded corners. The cutting edge is at the thinnest side, and is beveled sharp. The opposite end is thicker and has three circular cut holes in a line lengthwise along the center. One hole is close to the edge, a second larger hole is further in, and another small hole is near the middle.

Gallery Text

In Neolithic China, nephrite and other beautiful stones were fashioned into nonfunctional ceremonial blades and ritual implements that were buried in the graves of important people. Many of the same types of jades, such as the diskshaped ritual implement known as a bi, were used during subsequent periods as well.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.50.90
Title
Slender Jade Axe
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
axe
Date
c. 2000 BCE - c. 1400 BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Neolithic period to Shang dynasty
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/204955

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
Fine-grained, buff and dark ocher-colored stone
Dimensions
H. 13.7 x W. 5.6 x Thickness 0.9 cm (5 3/8 x 2 3/16 x 3/8 in.)
Weight 151 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. 16 by Max Loehr:

16 Slender Axe
Fine-grained, buff and dark ocher-colored stone. The axe has straight, beveled sides, a half-finished butt, and a neat, symmetrically ground, almost straight edge. The body diminishes slightly in thickness towards the cutting edge. Three beautifully executed, steeply conical perforations of graded sizes are located along the median axis, the first and second drilled from one side, the third one drilled from the opposite side. Shang(?).

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.50.90
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. 16, p. 47

Exhibition History

  • 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