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An archaic greenish-grey jade axe (Yue), Shang dynasty | 商 玉鉞
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Description
length 14.2cm. (5 ⅝ in.)
Provenance
J.J. Lally & Co., New York, 8 May 1996
Catalogue note
While collectively termed 'axe' in English, jade axes have variations of translations in Chinese. Ceremonial jades of a trapezoidal form with a straight or curved edge would be named yue, produced for a long duration of time from the Neolithic period to the Zhou dynasty. As a ceremonial weapon, jade yue symbolised power in ancient Chinese culture. This jade yue would have been attached to a wood pole to be carried by officials as an emblem of authority. Compare a similar example preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Jingtian gewu, Zhongguo lidai yuqi daodu [Art in quest of heaven and truth, a guide to Chinese jades through the ages], National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2011, p.45, fig.4-3-5a; and another, published in Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p.21, fig.5b.
Provenance
J.J. Lally & Co., New York, 8 May 1996
Catalogue note
While collectively termed 'axe' in English, jade axes have variations of translations in Chinese. Ceremonial jades of a trapezoidal form with a straight or curved edge would be named yue, produced for a long duration of time from the Neolithic period to the Zhou dynasty. As a ceremonial weapon, jade yue symbolised power in ancient Chinese culture. This jade yue would have been attached to a wood pole to be carried by officials as an emblem of authority. Compare a similar example preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Jingtian gewu, Zhongguo lidai yuqi daodu [Art in quest of heaven and truth, a guide to Chinese jades through the ages], National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2011, p.45, fig.4-3-5a; and another, published in Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p.21, fig.5b.
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length 14.2cm. (5 ⅝ in.)
Provenance
J.J. Lally & Co., New York, 8 May 1996
Catalogue note
While collectively termed 'axe' in English, jade axes have variations of translations in Chinese. Ceremonial jades of a trapezoidal form with a straight or curved edge would be named yue, produced for a long duration of time from the Neolithic period to the Zhou dynasty. As a ceremonial weapon, jade yue symbolised power in ancient Chinese culture. This jade yue would have been attached to a wood pole to be carried by officials as an emblem of authority. Compare a similar example preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Jingtian gewu, Zhongguo lidai yuqi daodu [Art in quest of heaven and truth, a guide to Chinese jades through the ages], National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2011, p.45, fig.4-3-5a; and another, published in Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p.21, fig.5b.
Provenance
J.J. Lally & Co., New York, 8 May 1996
Catalogue note
While collectively termed 'axe' in English, jade axes have variations of translations in Chinese. Ceremonial jades of a trapezoidal form with a straight or curved edge would be named yue, produced for a long duration of time from the Neolithic period to the Zhou dynasty. As a ceremonial weapon, jade yue symbolised power in ancient Chinese culture. This jade yue would have been attached to a wood pole to be carried by officials as an emblem of authority. Compare a similar example preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Jingtian gewu, Zhongguo lidai yuqi daodu [Art in quest of heaven and truth, a guide to Chinese jades through the ages], National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2011, p.45, fig.4-3-5a; and another, published in Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p.21, fig.5b.
The Edith & Stuart Cary Welch Collection
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