East Asia, China, Neolithic Period, later Longshan culture (sometimes Lung-shan), ca. 2000 to 1600 BCE. A large carved nephrite jade ritual axe blade, with a smooth, thin body, elongated ovoid shape, and curved, unsharpened blade edge. Drilled through its center are three holes, each of which decreases in size from the previous to the axe butt. Flat axe blades like this one were made to be put into an elite tomb alongside other luxury items. The stone is a beautiful creamy white grading to pale and dark green with some faint grey inclusions. Size: 3.75" W x 14.5" H (9.5 cm x 36.8 cm); 15.75" H (40 cm) on included custom stand.
Chinese art has incorporated jade since the Neolithic period; quarries for nephrite, the formal name for jade, have been found in modern-day southern Mongolia that date to ca. 4000 BCE. The stone was prized for its hardness, its beautiful coloration (with a milky white being the most desired), and its durability. By the third millennium BCE, we know that jade had also come to be associated with immortality. Jade was used to make everything from everyday household objects and decoration to the ceremonial suits in which Han dynasty emperors were buried – with the belief that jade would preserve the body and the soul for eternity.
Provenance: ex-private M.C. collection, Tampa, Florida, USA
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#142402
Condition
Surface has some areas of wear/scratching; otherwise the piece is intact and in nice condition with a well-preserved form.