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Polished axe blade carved from green jade

This polished, flat jade is shaped to an elongated oval with one flat, angled edge opposite its rounded cutting edge. The jade is a swirl of dark greens and warm light grays with dark flecks. Just in from the squared edge, a small circular hole has been cut, just to one side of the center. On one face of the blade, just below the hole is a small naturally occurring dip in the surface, shaped almost like an impression made by a finger.

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
1943.50.113
Title
Jade Axe with Round Edge
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
axe
Date
probably Majiabang culture, c. 5000 - c. 4000 BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Neolithic period
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/204980

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
Variegated, deep celadon-green and light gray stone
Dimensions
H. 19.5 x W. 9.1 x Thickness 1.3 cm (7 11/16 x 3 9/16 x 1/2 in.)
Weight 404 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. 1 by Max Loehr:

1 Axe with Round Edge
Variegated, deep celadon-green and light grey stone. The elongated body of this axe tapers toward the asymmetrically slanting butt. Flattish biconvex cross-section. The perforation, drilled from both sides, is placed off the median. Save for minor flaws and a natural depression on one side, the surfaces are ground smooth. Neolithic.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.50.113
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

  • Dorothy W. Gillerman, ed., Grenville L. Winthrop: Retrospective for a Collector, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, 1969), no. 001, pp. 4-5, 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. 1, p. 32

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