TWO EARLY STONE AXES

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TWO EARLY STONE AXES
NEOLITHIC PERIOD, LIANGZHU CULTURE, CIRCA 3300-2250 B.C.

The largest of speckled dark gray stone flaring from the thicker butt end to the curved and tapering cutting edge, carved from both sides with a circular aperture for attachment, the stone with a smooth matte surface; the other of rectangular form, carved from an olive-gray stone with lighter mottling on one side from burial, with two holes cut from both sides beside the slightly curved haft edge, the top and bottom edges tapered and the longer cutting edge beveled, the satiny surface with a slight gloss
7¼ and 8¼in. (18.4 and 20.9cm.) long (2)

Lot Essay

The larger axe is similar in form, but has a smaller hole, than one excavated from Fuquanshan, Qingpu county, Jiangsu province, included in the exhibition, Gems of Liangzhu Culture, Museum of History, April 11-August 9, 1992, Catalogue, p. 60, no. 7. The stone type of the smaller axe is similar to one included in the exhibition, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, and was illustrated by Jessica Rawson in the Catalogue, p. 21, no. 5b

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