Jade Dagger-Axe or Knife Blade | Harvard Art Museums

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 1943.50.26
Title: Jade Dagger-Axe or Knife Blade
Other Titles: Alternate Title: ko
Classification: Ritual Implements
Work Type: dagger-axe
Date: 16th cent. BCE - 11th cent. BCE
Places: Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period: Shang dynasty, c. 1600-c. 1050 BCE
Culture: Chinese
Persistent Link: https://hvrd.art/o/205194

Physical Descriptions

Medium: Opaque, bluish gray-green nephrite that has turned a dull buff and light brown color over a large part of the surface
Dimensions: 29.8 x 8.6 x 0.5 cm (11 3/4 x 3 3/8 x 3/16 in.)
unspecified: 203 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. 60 by Max Loehr:

60 Dagger-Axe or Knife Blade
Opaque, bluish gray-green jade that has turned a dull buff and light brown color over a large part of the surface. The blade has a crest from tip to butt, and neatly ground, longitudinal facets that curve out at the beginning of the tip. The tip is quite unusual; its shape might require that the blade be interpreted as an upward-pointing, recurved knife rather than as down-ward-pointing ko. The edges are nearly straight, ending with sharply cut shoulders, from which the broad, plain tang issues. A conical hole is drilled through the crest, behind the shoulders. The axis of the tang seems to favor the interpretation of this blade as a knife. Shang.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

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

Accession Year

1943

Object Number

1943.50.26

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

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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. 60, p. 70

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be 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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