Axe with masks (taotie)

Blade decorated with casting in relief. Broken off, and heavily encrusted with aerugo to which fragments of wood adhere. Other parts patinated with malachite and some azurite; areas of unaltered metal.

Historical period(s)
late Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty, ca. 1100-1050 BCE
Medium
Bronze with meteoritic iron blade
Dimensions
H x W x D: 16.8 × 11.1 × 2 cm (6 5/8 × 4 3/8 × 13/16 in)
Geography
China, Henan province, purportedly from Xunxian, but probably Anyang
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1934.10
On View Location
Sackler Gallery 23b: Anyang: China's Ancient City of Kings
Classification(s)
Metalwork, Weapon and Armament
Type

Weapon: axehead

Keywords
Anyang period (ca. 1300 - ca. 1050 BCE), China, dragon, mask
Provenance
Provenance research underway.
Description

Blade decorated with casting in relief. Broken off, and heavily encrusted with aerugo to which fragments of wood adhere. Other parts patinated with malachite and some azurite; areas of unaltered metal.

Published References
  • Greg Brennecka. Impact: How Rocks from Space Led to Life, Culture, and Donkey Kong. New York, NY, February 1, 2022. pg. 68.
  • Hiroshi Shiomi. Higashi Ajia no shoki tekki bunka. Tokyo. fig. 5.
  • Cheng Te-k'un. Archaeology in China. 3 vols., Cambridge, England. vol. 3: pl. 32a.
  • Sueji Umehara. Chugoku shutsudo no ichigun no doriki ni tsuite [One Find of Ancient Bronze Tools in China]. Kyoto. pl. 2.
  • Rutherford John Gettens, Roy S. Clarke, Jr., W. Thomas Chase. Two Early Chinese Bronze Weapons with Meteoritic Iron Blades. vol. 4, no. 1 Washington, 1971. p. 4, 59, fig. 1, 28.
  • Zachary Taylor. Ancient Chinese Glass., November-December 1974. pp. 27-31.
  • unknown title. no. 8. p. 43.
  • Hsueh-chin Li. Several Shang, Chou Objects Collected in America and Australia. no. 12. pp. 72-76.
  • Compiled by the staff of the Freer Gallery of Art. A Descriptive and Illustrative Catalogue of Chinese Bronzes: Acquired During the Administration of John Ellerton Lodge. Oriental Studies Series, no. 3 Washington, 1946. p. 98, pl. 49.
  • Robert Hutchinson, Alex W. R. Bevan, J. M. Hall. Catalogue of Meteorites., incl. appendix. London. pp. 252-253.
  • Edwards Park. Treasures from the Smithsonian Institution., 1st ed. Washington and New York. p. 339.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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