A mottled jade blade, Shang dynasty | 商 玉刀

Collection of A.W. Bahr (1877-1959).

Collection of Arthur M. Sackler (1913-87).

Christie's New York, 1st December 1994, lot 88.

Christie's New York, 20th September 2002, lot 214.

Eskenazi Ltd, London.

An important American collection.

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 5th April 2015, lot 2824.

巴爾（1877-1959年）收藏

賽克勒（1913-87年）收藏

紐約佳士得1994年12月1日，編號88

紐約佳士得2002年9月20日，編號214

埃斯卡納齊，倫敦

美國重要收藏

香港蘇富比2015年4月5日，編號2824

Stanley Charles Nott, Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages, London, 1936, pl. XIV:A.

樂提，《中國玉器源流考》，倫敦，1936年，圖版XIV:A

It is rare to find a neolithic jade blade of this type, that has been recarved at a later date. It is likely to have been reworked in the late Shang dynasty, modifying the blade slightly from one shape to another, in particular from dao-blade to gui-blade and sometimes vice versa. The reworking of this blade is identified by the different locations of the perforated holes, both of which are drilled from one side only. This reworking suggests a date to a post-Erlitou and early Shang context.

Comparable blades of similar stone have been published; one in the collection of Mr and Mrs Richard C. Bull, included in the exhibition, Arts of the Chou Dynasty, Stanford University Museum, 1958, cat. no. 18. Another in the collection of Mrs Rafi Y. Mottahedeh, was included in the exhibition, Chinese Jade throughout the ages, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1975, cat. no. 27.

成於新石器時代、後經重新打磨之玉刀稀見無多。商末加工上古玉器，改形易制，尤琢刀成圭，間或磨圭為刀。此刀兩孔均開自一側，因位置不同而知後經調改。依加工工藝推斷，玉刀現存形態可溯至二里頭文化乃至商初。

出版可見數例，玉石肌理與此件頗似，如 Richard C. Bull 伉儷收藏一例，展覽於《Arts of the Chou Dynasty》，史丹福大學博物館，1958年，編號18，及 Rafi Y. Mottahedeh 夫人收藏一例，展覽於《Chinese Jade throughout the Ages》，維多利亞與艾伯特博物館，倫敦，1975年，編號27。