Axe (<em>fu</em> 斧)
date: label: Date
content: ca. 3300-2250 BCE
label: Period
content: Late Neolithic period
notes: label: Description
content: Axe of the type fu 斧; rounded blade edge and gently curved sides; perforation bored from both sides leaving median ridge; one surface is mottled yellow and orange with areas and veins of incipient disintegration; opposite surface is pale olive tan with profuse white decomposition. (Corner broken.)
label: Description
content: Acquired with a box, now lost.
label: Provenance
content: Possibly excavated in Hsia-hsi, Chekiang [1]
label: Provenance
content: To 1916
label: Provenance
content: You Xiaoxi, Shanghai, to 1916 [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1916 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from You Xiaoxi, in New York in 1916 [3]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [4]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] According to Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record, this object was "said to have been excavated in Hsia-hsi, Chekiang."
label: Provenance
content: [2] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1044, pg. 232, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
label: Provenance
content: [3] See note 2.
label: Provenance
content: [4] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
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: Studies in Connoisseurship 1923-1983 (September 23, 1983 to March 1, 1984)
label: Exhibition History
content: Chinese Art (March 15, 1982 to June 15, 1982)
label: Exhibition History
content: Ancient Chinese Jade (September 4, 1980 to March 6, 1981)
label: Exhibition History
content: Chinese Art (January 1, 1963 to March 6, 1981)
label: Exhibition History
content: Ancient Chinese Paintings, Sculptures, and Jade Objects from the Collection formed by Charles Lang Freer (November 15 to December 08, 1917)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: You Xiaoxi 游篠溪 (late 19th-early 20th century) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: Lake Tai region, China
topic: label: Topic
content: jade
label: Topic
content: nephrite
label: Topic
content: Late Neolithic period (ca. 5000 - ca. 1700 BCE)
label: Topic
content: China
label: Topic
content: Chinese Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
culture: label: Culture
content: Liangzhu culture, ca. 3300-ca. 2250 BCE
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 Charles Lang Freer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1916.498
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: 12 × 16.3 × 0.7 cm (4 11/16 × 6 7/16 × 1/4 in)