Axe (yue 鉞), made from a collared disk

Object Details

• Description

  Ch'i-pi [qibi] 戚璧, or battle axe pi [bi] 璧 disc. Buff colored with some darker mottling.

• Provenance

  Duanfang (1861-1911) [1]

  From at least 1929 to 1968

  Eugene Meyer (1875-1959) and Agnes E. Meyer (1887-1970), Washington, DC, and Mt. Kisco, NY, from at least January 12, 1929 [2]

  From 1968

  Freer Gallery of Art, given by Agnes E. Meyer in 1968 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] The jade is included in Duanfang’s catalogue of his jade collection, published posthumously

  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.

  [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.

  [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.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Anyang: China's Ancient City of Kings (February 25, 2023 to April 28, 2024)

  Afterlife: Ancient Chinese Jades (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)

  Ancient Chinese Jades and Bronzes (November 20, 2010 to January 3, 2016)

  Brushing the Past: Later Chinese Calligraphy from the Gift of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth (April 30, 2000 to January 2, 2001)

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

  Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Memorial Exhibition (September 25, 1971 to October 2, 1972)

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

• Previous custodian or owner

  Duanfang 端方 (1861-1911)

  Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer ((1875-1959) and (1887-1970))

• Origin

  Anyang, probably Henan province, China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer

• Type

  Ceremonial Object

• On View

  Freer Gallery 19: Afterlife: Ancient Chinese Jades

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  BCE 1000s

• Name

  Meyer, Eugene and Agnes E., Duanfang

• Place

  China, Henan province, Anyang

• Topic

  Art, Chinese Art, Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty (ca. 1300 - 1050 BCE), Nephrite, Jade

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Ceremonial objects

• On View

  Yes