Axe-Shaped Jade Tablet | Harvard Art Museums

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 1943.50.92
Title: Axe-Shaped Jade Tablet
Classification: Ritual Implements
Work Type: axe
Date: c. 4000 BCE - c. 2000 BCE
Places: Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period: Neolithic period
Culture: Chinese
Persistent Link: https://hvrd.art/o/204988

Physical Descriptions

Medium: Variegated light brown nephrite
Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.5 x 0.7 cm (3 3/8 x 2 9/16 x 1/4 in.)
unspecified: 79 g

Published Text

Catalogue: Ancient Chinese Jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University
Authors: Max Loehr and Louisa G. Fitzgerald Huber
Publisher: Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1975)

Catalogue entry no. 191 by Max Loehr:

191 Axe-shaped Tablet
Small slab of variegated light brown jade, with straight sides and edge. The butt end is less neatly finished than the rest, suggesting that the object was refashioned from a once longer blade. Cylindrical hole surrounded by irregular depressions on both sides. Western Chou(?).

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop

Accession Year

1943

Object Number

1943.50.92

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

THIS WORK MAY NOT BE LENT BY THE TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION TO THE HARVARD ART MUSEUMS.

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Publication History

Max Loehr and Louisa G. Fitzgerald Huber, Ancient Chinese Jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1975), cat. no. 191, p. 150

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

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