Axe (fu)

Trapezoidal axe (fu ꖧ) wider and rounded at the blade; beveled blade and conical perforation; semi translucent, gray green with profuse delicate brown veining, areas of opaque dark brown at both ends; an upper corner chamfered.

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Historical period(s)
Shang dynasty, ca. 1600-1050 BCE
Medium
Jade (nephrite)
Dimensions
H x W x D: 14.8 Ɨ 6.2 Ɨ 1 cm (5 13/16 Ɨ 2 7/16 Ɨ 3/8 in) Diam (hole): 1.3 cm (1/2 in)
Geography
China
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1917.52
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceremonial Object, Jade
Type

Ceremonial object: axe

Keywords
China, Shang dynasty (ca. 1600 - ca. 1050 BCE)
Provenance

To 1917
Li Wenqing (late 19th-early 20th century), Shanghai, to 1917 [1]

From 1917 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Li Wenqing, in New York, in 1917 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1141, pg. 258, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. See also, Voucher No. 18, December 1916.

[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
Li Wenqing (C.L. Freer source) ca. 1869-1931

Description

Trapezoidal axe (fu ꖧ) wider and rounded at the blade; beveled blade and conical perforation; semi translucent, gray green with profuse delicate brown veining, areas of opaque dark brown at both ends; an upper corner chamfered.

Published References
  • J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
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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