A miniature green jade ceremonial blade (Ge), Shang dynasty

Nagatani, Inc., Chicago, 1st December 1971.

Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978).

Miniature jade blades of this type from the Shang dynasty are recorded in museum and private collections around the world. Compare a jade blade in the Buffalo Museum of Science, Buffalo, exhibited in Ancient Chinese Jades from the Buffalo Museum of Science, China Institute, New York, 1975, cat. no. 14; another in the Peony Collection, included in the exhibition Jades from China, the Museum of East Asian Art, Bath, 1994, cat. no. 76; and two sold in our London rooms, the first, 14th July 1981, lot 2, and the second, 13th December 1983, lot 47.