Axe shaft cap

Sword fitting: Pommel of sword or dagger; in form of elongated oval block with projecting hollow and perforated shaft at the base, a plain painted oval form in relief on top is only decoration; mottled cream tones and black; smooth surface except for some rough and chipped areas.

Acquired with a box, now lost.

Maker(s)
Artist: Liangzhu culture 良渚 (ca. 3300-ca. 2250 BCE)
Historical period(s)
Late Neolithic period, ca. 3300-2250 BCE
Medium
Jade (nephrite)
Dimensions
H x W x D: 3.2 x 7.2 x 2.4 cm (1 1/4 x 2 13/16 x 15/16 in)
Geography
China, Lake Tai region
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1916.512
On View Location
Freer Gallery 19: Afterlife: Ancient Chinese Jades
Classification(s)
Ceremonial Object, Jade
Type

Ceremonial object

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

To 1916
You Xiaoxi, Shanghai, to 1916 [1]

From 1916 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from You Xiaoxi, in New York in 1916 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1058, pg. 236, 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
You Xiaoxi (C.L. Freer source) late 19th-early 20th century

Description

Sword fitting: Pommel of sword or dagger; in form of elongated oval block with projecting hollow and perforated shaft at the base, a plain painted oval form in relief on top is only decoration; mottled cream tones and black; smooth surface except for some rough and chipped areas.

Acquired with a box, now lost.

Published References
  • J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
  • Sueji Umehara. Shina kogyoku zuroku [Selected Specimens of Chinese Archaic Jade]. Kyoto, 1955. pl. 107, fig. 3.
  • You Xiaoxi, Hsiao-chi Yu in, Chi-Tseng Chang. "游筱溪." Masterpieces of Chinese National Art: The Collection of Mr. Seaouke'e Yue. Shanghai, 1916. no. 32a.
  • Sueji Umehara. Freer bijutsukan shuzo no takensogu no nisan. vol. 25, no. 3 Kyoto, 1930. pp. 264-267, figs. 3, 4.
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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