NEOLITHIC PERIOD, CIRCA 2500-2000 BC

Jessica Rawson in Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, British Museum, 1995, p. 184, discusses jade ceremonial blades of this type, and how they evolved from stone reaping implements. In her description of a similar, but larger (45 cm.) jade blade, p. 186, fig. 10:17, Rawson states, “There are three holes along the upper edge, recalling the holes of the original knives, and a fourth hole centered on the blade at the butt suggests that it was held in a different position. All the holes are drilled from one side.” Another similar jade blade of larger size (57 cm.), but of similar color to the current example, is illustrated in the J. J. Lally & Co. exhibition catalogue, Ancient Chinese Jade, 15-29 March 2018, no. 23. The catalogue entry cites a further jade blade of similar large size and color in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Huanghe liuyu shiqian yuqi tezhan tulu (Catalogue of Special Exhibition of Prehistoric Jade from the Yellow River Valley), Taipei, 2001, pp. 102-3, no. 2-1.