A CHINESE ARCHAIC JADE CEREMONIAL BLADE, DAO
新石器時代 玉刀

A CHINESE ARCHAIC JADE CEREMONIAL BLADE, DAO

Neolithic Period

新石器時代 玉刀

Thinly carved, of a nearly trapezoidal form with a long straight edge opposite a gently curved, beveled cutting edge, pierced near the top with five apertures, the softly polished stone of a light-russet and green colour

5.5cm high, 28.5cm wide

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PROVENANCE:

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REFERENCE:

For similar examples, compare two larger blades in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, published in Harold Peterson, Chinese Jades: Archaic and Modern from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, London, 1977, pls. 45-47;

One in the Tianjin City Art Museum, published in Yang Boda, ed., Zhongguo yuqi quanji [Complete collection of Chinese jades], vol. 1, Shijiazhuang, 2005, no. 53, where the author notes its similarities to the excavated examples from Shimao;

For auctioned examples, see a large dark green jade blade from the collection of Max Loehr, Sotheby's, Paris, 15th December 2016, lot 43;

Another, attributed to Shimao Culture, formerly in the Yang De Tang Collection, Christie's, Hong Kong, 28th November 2018, lot 2711;

See a Longshan example with a slightly curved cutting edge (l. 54.6 cm, 0.4 cm in thickness) published in The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China, vol. 14: Shaanxi, op.cit., pl. 8; another (l. 51 cm, 0.3 in thickness) in ibid., vol. 4: Shandong, pl. 24;

Another blade attributed to the Shenmu culture in the collection of the Harvard Art Museums, Jenny F. So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums, New Haven, 2019, cat. 6B, together with another slightly thicker example attributed to the Qijia culture, cat. 6C;

Examples excavated from the Qijia culture sites are published in The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China, vol. 15: Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Beijing, 2005, pls 39 and 148, together with a related fragment, pl. 151;

Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, pls 10.17-18.

THIS LOT IS OFFERED WITH NO RESERVE

無底價