| JADE AND HARDSTONE |
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| 66 A fine jade axe (qi ) Late Shang dynasty, 13th to 11th centuries BC Length: 5 1/2 in, 14 cm the bevelled sides, with notched projections, flare from the butt to a straight cutting edge; both faces are slightly convex and there is a central conical hole, drilled from one side. The projections have single teeth either side of serrated teeth. The finely polished, semi-translucent stone is a pale celadon-green tone with veining and areas altered to buff. Formerly in a European private collection. Rawson illustrates and discusses a similar example in Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, no. 10:13, pp. 176–8. For others, see Institute of Archaeology, CASS, Tomb of Lady Hao at Yinxu in Anyang, pls. CXV and CXVI; Shanghai Museum: Ancient Chinese Jade Gallery, p. 14; Jenyns, Chinese Archaic Jades in the British Museum, pl. XV (upper left); and Salmony, Archaic Chinese Jades from the Edward and Louise B. Sonnenschein Collection, pl. III, pp. 22–3. |