A rare archaic dark green jade ceremonial blade, Neolithic period, Qijia culture

Collection of A.W. Bahr (1877-1959) (by repute). 

Robert H. Ellsworth, New York.

Anthony Carter Ltd., London.

Of grand proportions, gently tapering form and rich complex coloration, the present blade exemplifies the austere beauty and power of early jade carving. 

The trapezoidal form and drilled holes of the present blade were derived from the stone reaping knives of the period, seemingly fastened to wooden handles by rope tied through the holes. While early examples of the form appear to have been joined to the handle only on one side, many of the finest examples – the present included – feature a secondary, often larger, hole closer to the middle of the blade on one side, possibly to accommodate a curved handle or second shaft.

For similar blades of various colors and slight variations in form, compare those from the Hotung Collection, now preserved in the British Museum, London, illustrated in Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jades from Neolithic to Qing, London, 1995, p. 187, pt. 10C; a very closely related blade with three drilled holes in the Tianjin Museum, illustrated in Jade Wares Collected by Tianjin Museum, Tianjin, 2012, pl. 1; a larger blade with three aligned holes from the Kwan Collection in Yang Boda, Chinese Archaic Jades from the Kwan Collection, Art Gallery, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1995, cat. no. 57; and a similar blade with two perforations and a third larger unfinished hole from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection at the Harvard Art Museums in Max Loehr, Ancient Chinese Jades, Cambridge, 1975, pl. 205.