A CHINESE ARCHAISTIC JADE AXE HEAD, YUE
新石器時代或後期 玉鉞

A CHINESE ARCHAISTIC JADE AXE HEAD, YUE

Neolithic Period or later

新石器時代或後期 玉鉞

Carved from jade of flat rectangular form with softly bevelled edges, the straight sides subtly flaring towards the gently curved blade edge, pierced through with a large aperture towards the narrow end, the mottled opaque stone of russet, green and grey colour, inclusion and signs of calcification

20cm high, 15cm wide

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REFERENCE:

Comparable example from the Victoria and Albert Museum, collection no. A.65-1936;

See other replated examples of jade axe with similar shapes, see The Complete Collection of Unearthed Jades in China, vol. 7, Beijing, 2005, p.15 and ibid. vol.8 pp. 44, 110 and 137;

So Jenny F and Harvard Art Museums. 2019. Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums. Cambridge Mass: Harvard Art Museums, p. 80, fig. 4.

A similar example can be found in the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei, "Jingtian gewu, Zhongguo lidai yuqi daodu" (Art in Quest of Heaven and Truth, a Guide to Chinese Jades Through the Ages), National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2011, p. 45, fig. 4-3-5a;

Another comparable piece is featured in Rawson, Jessica. Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p. 21, fig. 5b.