Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.50.248
Title
Jade Disk-Axe
Classification
Ritual Implements
Work Type
axe
Date
16th cent. BCE - 10th cent. BCE
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Shang dynasty (c. 1600-c. 1050 BCE) to Western Zhou period (c. 1050-771 BCE)
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/205008

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Partly translucent, greenish and brownish nephrite with advanced calcification
Dimensions
8.7 x 7 x 0.5 cm (3 7/16 x 2 3/4 x 3/16 in.)
unspecified: 47 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. 23 by Max Loehr:

23 Disk-Axe
Small specimen of a partly translucent, greenish and brownish jade in an advanced stage of calcification. The shape compares with No. 22, but the segments removed are larger, so that the cutting edge is accordingly shorter. The perforation was drilled from one side, its wall slanting strongly. This conical hole harmonizes with the beveled edge of the splayed area below the “teeth.” The teeth are carved out in a rhythmic, symmetrical pattern, with beveled interstices above and below the central pairs. Shang or early Western Chou.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.50.248
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. 23, p 51

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