Jade Disk-Axe | Harvard Art Museums

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

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, Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 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

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