LATE SHANG EARLY WESTERN ZHOU, CIRCA 1000 BC

Details

A FINE GREYISH-GREEN JADE AXE, QI
LATE SHANG EARLY WESTERN ZHOU, CIRCA 1000 BC
The thin axe with a square top flaring out slightly at the sides and gently curved at the cutting edge, the long sides notched with small flanges, drilled with two holes from one side, the softly polished stone of semi-translucent greyish-green tone with areas of opaque buff alteration showing fabric impression, traces of cinnabar remaining
4 in. (10.2 cm.) long, box

Provenance

Baron and Baroness von Oertzen Collection

Literature

S. Howard Hansford, Jade - Essence of Hills and Streams, Johannesburg, 1969, no. A46, p. 49

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 15% on the buyer's premium

Lot Essay

The notched flanges on the long sides of this axe distinguish it from the more common plain-form axes. During the late neolithic period, most especially in the Longshan culture, these flanges first appear on axes. A similar axe dating to the Shang period (1300-1200 BC) is illustated by Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p. 176, pl. 10:13

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