Socketed axe with geometric decoration

Blade of unknown type with tubular socket for hafting. Patinated smoothly with malachite showing traces of textile wrapping.

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Historical period(s)
Western Zhou dynasty, ca. 1050-771 BCE
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
H x W: 12.9 x 8.7 cm (5 1/16 x 3 7/16 in)
Geography
China, Ordos, Inner Mongolia
Credit Line
Purchase ā€” Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1934.13
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Metalwork, Weapon and Armament
Type

Weapon: axehead

Keywords
China, Western Zhou dynasty (ca. 1050 - 771 BCE)
Provenance
Provenance research underway.
Description

Blade of unknown type with tubular socket for hafting. Patinated smoothly with malachite showing traces of textile wrapping.

Published References
  • Olov R. T. Janse. Quelques antiquiteĢs chinoises d'un caracteĢ€re Hallstattien. Stockholm. pl. 3.
  • Robert L. Hobson, W. Perceval Yetts. The George Eumorfopoulos Collection of Chinese, Corean, and Persian Pottery and Porcelain. 6 vols., London. cats. A145, A146, A151, vol. 1.
  • Fredrik Robert Martin. L'Age du Bronze au Musee de Minoussinsk: Photographies et Texte. Stockholm. pl. 2.
  • Johan Gunnar Andersson. Selected Ordos Bronzes. no. 5 Stockholm. pl. 6.
  • Johan Gunnar Andersson. Hunting Magic in the Animal Style. no. 4 Stockholm. pl. 10.
  • Sueji Umehara. Shina kokogaku ronko [Studies in Chinese Archaeology]. Showa 13 Tokyo, 1938-1940. p. 26, pls. 8, 31.
  • 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. 59, fig. 28.
  • 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.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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