Large Jade Dagger-Axe | Harvard Art Museums

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 1943.50.23
Title: Large Jade Dagger-Axe
Other Titles: Alternate Title: ko
Classification: Ritual Implements
Work Type: dagger-axe
Date: 16th-14th century BCE
Places: Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period: Shang dynasty, c. 1600-c. 1050 BCE
Culture: Chinese
Persistent Link: https://hvrd.art/o/205193

Physical Descriptions

Medium: Opaque, light greyish brown stone with black veins, resembling old wood
Dimensions: H. 48.5 x W. 9.3 x D. 0.6 cm (19 1/8 x 3 11/16 x 1/4 in.)
Weight 431 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. 52 by Max Loehr:

52 Large Dagger-Axe
Opaque, light grayish brown stone with black veins, resembling old wood. The blade is crested, the crest continuing to the end of the slightly narrower tang, which has a slanting butt. The edges are unevenly beveled and blunt. A large conical perforation, drilled from the left side, is placed in the upper half of the tang, back of the shoulders. Shang or Western Chou.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop

Accession Year

1943

Object Number

1943.50.23

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. 52, p. 66

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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