Lot 1450
1450
A VERY RARE AND UNUSUALLY LARGE MOTTLED RUSSET AND PALE OLIVE JADE CEREMONIAL BLADE, DAO
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT JAPANESE PRIVATE COLLECTION
A VERY RARE AND UNUSUALLY LARGE MOTTLED RUSSET AND PALE OLIVE JADE CEREMONIAL BLADE, DAO

NEOLITHIC PERIOD, CIRCA 2500-2000 BC

Details
A VERY RARE AND UNUSUALLY LARGE MOTTLED RUSSET AND PALE OLIVE JADE CEREMONIAL BLADE, DAO
NEOLITHIC PERIOD, CIRCA 2500-2000 BC
Possibly Longshan Culture, of somewhat trapezoidal shape, the blade has one long straight edge opposite a slightly curved cutting edge that is beveled on both sides. Four holes are drilled from one side, three equidistant from each other in a line with the straight edge, the fourth in the middle of the blade near one end. The blade has a satiny polish, and the opaque stone is of mottled russet and pale olive color.
21 3/8in. (54.3 cm.) long, Japanese wood box, lucite stand
Provenance
By repute, handed down seven generations in the Shunde region of Guangdong. In the United States before 1979.
Property of a Chinese American Family, New York; Sotheby's New York, 22-23 September 2004, lot 222.
Exhibited
The Collection of Chinese Art: Special Exhibition 'Run through 10 years', Senshutey, Tokyo, Japan, 2006, pp. 14-15, no. 8.

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Lot Essay

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. The author illustrates several long jade ceremonial blades of a type similar to the present blade including a thinner blade (50.8 cm.), possibly from Shaanxi Shenmu Shimao, north-west China, dated to the Neolithic period, c. 2000-1000 BC, that is now in the British Museum, p. 184, fig. 3. Another in the Freer Gallery of Art (77.8 cm.), p. 185, fig. 4, which is also dated to the Neolithic period, and possibly from the Longshan culture, has the addition of notches carved at the ends and a face carved in profile along what appears to be a damaged cutting edge. The stone of the Freer blade appears to be opaque and is mottled. Two smaller jade blades (45 and 28.9 cm.), each of which has an arrangement of holes similar to that of the present blade, are also illustrated, pp. 186-7, nos. 10:17 and 10:18, and are dated to the Neolithic period, c. 2500-2000 BC.

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