Axe blade (<em>yue</em>)
date: label: Date
content: 11th-10th century BCE
label: Period
content: Western Zhou dynasty
notes: label: Description
content: The thickened, blunt cutting edge and elaborate decoration indicate that this ax was not a functional weapon, but was used as military ceremonial regalia. Its rounded edge curves up with tips that end in tight curls, and a feline mask with prominent heart-shaped ears standing clear above the surface decorates each face of the blade. Two animals with notched spines and heads turned back grasp the sides, while their long tails curl with the tips of the blade. The openwork created by these animals on the sides is echoed by the notched and zigzagged outline of the tang, as well as the openwork pattern within.
label: Label
content: This ornate bronze ax demonstrates the importance of military power and the rituals that reinforced that power for the rulers of Bronze-Age China. Its extravagantly openwork outline with curvaceous dragons and large feline mask with ears in high relief on the flat face of the blade are typical of the decorative flamboyance that marked the beginning of the Western Zhou dynasty (ca. 1050-950 b.c.e.).
label: Provenance
content: From at least 1929
label: Provenance
content: Jörg Trübner (1903-1930), acquired in China [1]
label: Provenance
content: From at least 1930 to 1949
label: Provenance
content: Adolphe Stoclet (1871-1949), Brussels [2]
label: Provenance
content: To 1965
label: Provenance
content: Philippe R. Stoclet, New York, Adolphe Stoclet’s grandson, by descent from his family [3]
label: Provenance
content: 1965
label: Provenance
content: Sale, Sotheby’s, London, Important Chinese Works of Art Ceramics and Jades, Including the Property of Mr. Philippe Stoclet (from the Collection of the late Adolphe Stoclet)…, May 11, 1965, lot 131: “A rare bronze ritual axe-head,… Chou dynasty,” ill., sold to “Ohly” [4]
label: Provenance
content: Private collector, United States [5]
label: Provenance
content: In about 1992
label: Provenance
content: J. J. Lally & Co. Oriental Art, New York, in about November 1992 [6]
label: Provenance
content: Baron G. collection [7]
label: Provenance
content: To 1996
label: Provenance
content: Oriental Bronzes Ltd., London, to January 1996 [8]
label: Provenance
content: From 1996
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Christian Deydier of Oriental Bronzes Ltd., London, England [9]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] The object was published and illustrated in a commemorative volume assembled by Otto Kümmel and dedicated to Jörg Trübner.
label: Provenance
content: Trübner was a scholar specializing in Chinese bronzes. From 1925 until his premature death in Beijing in February 1930, he worked as an art dealer with his brother-in-law Edgar Worch, who was established in Berlin.
label: Provenance
content: Kümmel’s publication comprised objects which Trübner acquired in China and placed through Worch’s gallery in various collections in Europe and United States.
label: Provenance
content: See Otto Kümmel, Jörg Trübner zum Gedächtnis: Ergebnisse seiner letzten chinesischen Reisen (Berlin: Klinkhardt & Biermann Verlag, 1930), p. 52, pl. 23.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See Kümmel 1930, where the object is published as part of Adolphe Stoclet’s collection.
label: Provenance
content: The axe blade remained in the Stoclet collection until Adolphe Stoclet’s death in 1949, see H.F.E. Visser, Asiatic Art in Private Collections of Holland and Belgium (Amsterdam: De Spieghel Publishing Co., 1948), p. 41.
label: Provenance
content: [3] See Sotheby’s, London, Important Chinese Works of Art Ceramics and Jades, Including the Property of Mr. Philippe Stoclet (from the Collection of the late Adolphe Stoclet)…, auction cat. (May 11, 1965), p. 52.
label: Provenance
content: [4] The buyer of lot 131 is identified as “Ohly” in a list of buyers accompanying a copy of the Sotheby’s catalogue in Freer | Sackler Library.
label: Provenance
content: [5] Information provided by Laetitia Chemin of Oriental Bronzes Ltd. in 1996, see Oriental Bronzes Ltd.’s invoice, dated January 21, 1996, copy in object file.
label: Provenance
content: [6] The axe blade was advertised with a photographic image by J. J. Lally & Co. Oriental Art in the 1992 November issue of Orientations.
label: Provenance
content: [7] See note 5.
label: Provenance
content: [8] See note 5.
label: Provenance
content: [9] See Oriental Bronzes Ltd.’s invoice cited in note 5.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Honoring Friends: Recent Gifts by Members of the Freer and Sackler Galleries (June 10 to November 25, 2001)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Jörg Trübner
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Adolphe Stoclet (1871-1949)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: J. J. Lally & Co. Oriental Art (active 1986-2021)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Baron G. collection
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Oriental Bronzes, Ltd. (established 1987)
place: label: Origin
content: China
topic: label: Topic
content: casting
label: Topic
content: metal
label: Topic
content: bronze
label: Topic
content: animal
label: Topic
content: Western Zhou dynasty (ca. 1050 - 771 BCE)
label: Topic
content: mask
label: Topic
content: China
label: Topic
content: Chinese Art
setName: label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Purchase — funds provided by the Friends of Asian Arts and the Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1996.8
objectType: label: Type
content: Ceremonial Object
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Bronze
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 19 x 10.9 x 1 cm (7 1/2 x 4 5/16 x 3/8 in)