Axe (<em>yue</em> 鉞), made from a collared disk
date: label: Date
content: ca. 1250 - ca. 1050 BCE
label: Period
content: Late Shang dynasty, Anyang period
notes: label: Description
content: Ch'i-pi [qibi] 戚璧, or battle axe pi [bi] 璧 disc. Buff colored with some darker mottling.
label: Provenance
content: Duanfang (1861-1911) [1]
label: Provenance
content: From at least 1929 to 1968
label: Provenance
content: Eugene Meyer (1875-1959) and Agnes E. Meyer (1887-1970), Washington, DC, and Mt. Kisco, NY, from at least January 12, 1929 [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1968
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, given by Agnes E. Meyer in 1968 [3]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] The jade is included in Duanfang’s catalogue of his jade collection, published posthumously
label: Provenance
content: in 1936 with a preface by Wang Dalong, see Duanfang, Taozhai gu yu tu vol. 1 (Shanghai, 1936), p. 1a. Duanfang was a late Qing dynasty government official and a well-known collector of Chinese art. See also Thomas Lawton, A Time of Transition: Two Collectors of Chinese Art (Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, 1991), pp. 37-39, fig. 36.
label: Provenance
content: [2] Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer lent the jade to an exhibition in Berlin in 1929, see Ausstellung Chinesischer Kunst Veranstaltet von der Gesellschaft für Ostasiatische Kunst und der Preußischen Akademie der Künste Berlin, exh. cat. (Berlin, January 12 – April 2, 1929), cat. 151, and Chinesische Kunst: zweihundert Hauptwerke der Ausstellung der Gesellschaft für Ostasiatische Kunst in der Preussischen Akademie der Künste, Berlin, 1929, herausgegeben von Otto Kümmel (Berlin: Bruno Cassirer Verlag, 1930), cat. XVIII.
label: Provenance
content: [3] See Agnes E. Meyer’s Deed of Gift, dated July 24, 1967, where the jade is listed as no. 32 in the document’s Annex, copy in object file. The object was accessioned to the Freer Gallery’s collection in 1968.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Anyang: China's Ancient City of Kings (February 25, 2023 to April 28, 2024)
label: Exhibition History
content: Afterlife: Ancient Chinese Jades (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)
label: Exhibition History
content: Ancient Chinese Jades and Bronzes (November 20, 2010 to January 3, 2016)
label: Exhibition History
content: Brushing the Past: Later Chinese Calligraphy from the Gift of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth (April 30, 2000 to January 2, 2001)
label: Exhibition History
content: Ancient Chinese Jade (September 4, 1980 to March 6, 1981)
label: Exhibition History
content: Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Memorial Exhibition (September 25, 1971 to October 2, 1972)
label: Exhibition History
content: Chinese Art (January 1, 1963 to March 6, 1981)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Duanfang 端方 (1861-1911)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer
place: label: Origin
content: Anyang, probably Henan province, China
topic: label: Topic
content: jade
label: Topic
content: nephrite
label: Topic
content: Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty (ca. 1300 - 1050 BCE)
label: Topic
content: China
label: Topic
content: Chinese Art
setName: label: On View
content: West Building (Freer Gallery of Art), Gallery 19: Afterlife: Ancient Chinese Jades
label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: Related Online Resources
content: Jades for Life and Death
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1968.48
objectType: label: Type
content: Ceremonial Object
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Jade (nephrite)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 22.5 x 20.3 x 1.1 cm (8 7/8 x 8 x 7/16 in)
label: Dimensions
content: Diam (hole): 6.4 cm (2 1/2 in)