Harvesting knife (hu 笏)

Ceremonial implement; quadrilateral, thin blade form; slightly curving, very sharp, beveled cutting edge; four conical perforations and a circular depression, the beginning of a fifth perforation; semi–translucent, slate gray with grayish white and tan mottlings and spots; granular pitted area on upper edge. (Blade edge slightly chipped.)

Acquired with a box, now lost.

Maker(s)
Artist: Longshan culture 龍山 (ca. 3000-ca. 1700 BCE)
Historical period(s)
Late Neolithic period, ca. 2000-1700 BCE
Medium
Jade (nephrite)
Dimensions
H x W x D: 35.9 x 8.9 x 0.3 cm (14 1/8 x 3 1/2 x 1/8 in)
Geography
China
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1916.163
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceremonial Object, Jade
Type

Ceremonial object: harvesting knife (hu)

Keywords
China, Late Neolithic period (ca. 5000 - ca. 1700 BCE)
Provenance

To 1916
Lai-Yuan and Company, New York, to 1916 [1]

From 1916 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Lai-Yuan and Company in 1916 [2]

From 1920
The Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 876, pg. 190, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[2] See note 1.

[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919
Lai-Yuan & Company (C.L. Freer source) ca. 1915-April 1921

Description

Ceremonial implement; quadrilateral, thin blade form; slightly curving, very sharp, beveled cutting edge; four conical perforations and a circular depression, the beginning of a fifth perforation; semi–translucent, slate gray with grayish white and tan mottlings and spots; granular pitted area on upper edge. (Blade edge slightly chipped.)

Acquired with a box, now lost.

Published References
  • J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
  • Minao Hayashi. Chūgoku kodai no ishibōchōkei gyokki to kotsusenkei gyokki [Two Types of Prehistorical Chinese Ceremonial Jade Objects: Stone Harvesting Knives and Bone Spades]. no. 54, 1982. pl. 2.
  • Minao Hayashi. Chūgoku kogyoku no kenkyū. Tokyo, 1991. pl. 2.
  • Na Chih-liang. "玉器通史." Yu ch'i t'ung shih [A General Study of Chinese Jade]. Hong Kong, 1965. p. 3, fig. 4.
  • Meili Yang. Xuanzi you huan, qiyi zai zhengshang: Gudai xibei diqu de huanxingyu, shiqi xilie zhi wu: Lianhuanxing yuqi yu xibei diqu de yuqi qiege. no. 138 Taipei, 1994. p. 66, fig. 12.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Jades for Life and Death
Google Cultural Institute
CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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