A CHINESE ARCHAIC JADE AXE HEAD, YUE
新石器時代 玉鉞

A CHINESE ARCHAIC JADE AXE HEAD, YUE

Neolithic Period

新石器時代 玉鉞

Carved from jade of flat rectangular form with flat edges, the straight sides subtly flaring towards the gently curved blade edge, pierced through with an aperture towards the narrow end, the mottled opaque stone of dark green colour, is flat and smooth to one side and rough to the other with inclusions.

12cm high, 10cm wide

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PROVENANCE:

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REFERENCES:

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.