A rare and large archaic pale green jade ceremonial blade (Yazhang), Neolithic period, Longshan culture

Robert H. Ellsworth, New York.

Anthony Carter Ltd., London.

Jade blades with teeth-like lateral projections, known as yazhang, first emerged during the Longshan culture of the late Neolithic period. The type flourished during the Erlitou period, when it became widely distributed across metropolitan China, particularly in Shandong and at the Shimao site in Shenmu, Shaanxi, in the lower and middle reaches of the Yellow River. While later Erlitou yazhang are characterized by increasingly elaborate forms, with multiple projections on either side and carved decoration along the shaft, the present example remains comparatively austere. Its restrained design suggests an earlier phase in the evolution of the type, before the emergence of the more ornate Erlitou examples.

For a Neolithic period stone prototype of closely related shape, see one excavated from Shangwanjiagou site, Shandong province, and illustrated in Gu Fang, The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China, vol. 4 Shandong, Beijing, 2005, pl. 27. A dark green jade yazhang, of closely related form, attributed to the Longshan culture was excavated from Simatai site, Shandong province, and illustrated ibid., pl. 34.