Harvesting knife (hu 笏), fragment

Object Details

• Description

  Large cleaver shaped object of the type kuei [gui] 圭; one long, beveled cutting edge; three conical perforations near upper edge; handle end notched on sides and sharply pointed, opposite end is diagonal; mottled gray and putty colored with cream strata marks, dark cloudings, and reddish brown area near handle; lustrous surface. (Old chips and rough areas.)

  Acquired with a box, now lost.

• Provenance

  To 1916

  You Xiaoxi, Shanghai, to 1916 [1]

  From 1916 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from You Xiaoxi, in New York in 1916 [2]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 1036, pg. 230, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] 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.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Ancient Chinese Jade (September 4, 1980 to March 6, 1981)

  Chinese Art (January 1, 1963 to March 6, 1981)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Metalwork (March 14, 1931 to March 22, 1943)

• Previous custodian or owner

  You Xiaoxi 游篠溪 (late 19th-early 20th century) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  China

• Culture

  Longshan culture, ca. 3000-ca. 1700 BCE

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Ceremonial Object

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  BCE 2000s, BCE 1000s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, You, Xiaoxi

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Late Neolithic period (ca. 5000 - ca. 1700 BCE), Chinese Art, Nephrite, Jade

• Culture

  Longshan culture, Chinese

• Object Type

  Ceremonial objects