Harvesting knife (hu 笏), fragment

Ceremonial implement; blade form of irregular, quadrilateral shape; short ends oblique; cutting edge sharp and slightly curved; three conical perforations near upper straight edge; black with traces of dark olive brown; profuse granular pittings; high luster. (Edge chipped.)

Acquired with a box, now lost.

Maker(s)
Artist: Longshan culture 龍山 (ca. 3000-ca. 1700 BCE)
Historical period(s)
Late Neolithic period, ca. 2000-ca. 1700 BCE
Medium
Jade (nephrite)
Dimensions
H x W x D: 26.7 × 8.5 × 0.6 cm (10 1/2 × 3 3/8 × 1/4 in)
Geography
China
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1916.244
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceremonial Object, Jade
Type

Ceremonial object: harvesting knife (hu)

Keywords
China, Late Neolithic period (ca. 5000 - ca. 1700 BCE), nephrite
Provenance

To 1916
Abel William Bahr (1877-1959), London, to 1916 [1]

From 1916 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Abel William Bahr, London, in 1916 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 641, pg. 157, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Abel William Bahr (1877-1959) was a collector and dealer born in Shanghai, China. After he left Shanghai in 1910, he lived, at various points in time, in London, Montreal, and Ridgefield, Connecticut. He established a gallery in New York City in 1920.

[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.

Previous Owner(s)

Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919
Abel William Bahr (C.L. Freer source) 1877-1959

Description

Ceremonial implement; blade form of irregular, quadrilateral shape; short ends oblique; cutting edge sharp and slightly curved; three conical perforations near upper straight edge; black with traces of dark olive brown; profuse granular pittings; high luster. (Edge chipped.)

Acquired with a box, now lost.

Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Jades for Life and Death
Google Cultural Institute
CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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