A CELADON JADE AXE, QI

XIA-SHANG DYNASTY, C. 2100-1100 BC

Details

A CELADON JADE AXE, QI
XIA-SHANG DYNASTY, C. 2100-1100 BC
The thin trapezoidal axe is carved with notched flanges on the long flaring sides, with a curved asymmetric cutting edge opposite to a pierced hole. The semi-translucent stone is of a greyish-green tone partially covered with buff opaque alteration.
3 7/8 in. (9.8 cm.) long, box

Provenance

Yangdetang Collection, acquired in Taipei prior to 1999

Literature

Aurora Art Museum, Jades of Shang Dynasty, Taipei, 2010, p. 37, no. 2

Lot Essay

Compare a jade axe of similar shape and proportion categorised as style-IV excavated from the tomb of the Shang queen Fu Hao at Yinxu, Anyang, Henan province, illustrated in Yinxu Fuhao mu (The Jades from the tomb of Fu Hao at Yinxu), Beijing, 1980, pl. 115(459).

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