Jade Dagger-Axe | Harvard Art Museums

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 1943.50.18
Title: Jade Dagger-Axe
Other Titles: Alternate Title: ko
Classification: Ritual Implements
Work Type: dagger-axe
Date: 14th cent. BCE - 8th cent. BCE
Places: Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period: Shang dynasty (c. 1600-c. 1050 BCE) to Western Zhou period (c. 1050-771 BCE)
Culture: Chinese
Persistent Link: https://hvrd.art/o/205163

Physical Descriptions

Medium: Mottled bluish green nephrite that has largely turned to an opaque, light buff color with dark brown markings
Dimensions: 32.9 x 7.7 x 0.7 cm (12 15/16 x 3 1/16 x 1/4 in.)
unspecified: 233 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. 50 by Max Loehr:

50 Dagger-Axe
Mottled bluish green jade that has largely turned to an opaque, light buff color with dark brown markings. The crest stands out more distinctly on the right face, due to hollow grinding. The broad lateral facets, curving off at the tip, continue into the tang, as does the median crest. The tang, set off by narrow shoulders, widens toward the butt, which is left in its raw state. Late Shang or Western Chou.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

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

Accession Year

1943

Object Number

1943.50.18

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. 50, p. 64

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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