A large jade ceremonial blade, Neolithic period | 新石器時代 玉刀

Collection of Yoshio Kojima, Tokyo.

Acquired from the above in 1994.

小島義雄收藏，東京

1994年購自上述來源

With three apertures along the upper edge and a fourth on one side, this large ceremonial blade would likely have been bound to a wooden handle which decomposed long ago. The ancient jade, however, still remains. Of warm brownish tone with a rich patina across its surface, this blade combines the Neolithic forms of knife and tablet into an object of ritual power. 

Related ceremonial blades with subtle differences in shape and in their pierced holes have been discovered in several jade-working Neolithic cultures. See, for example, one from the Longshan culture, excavated from Lushanmao site, Yan'an, Shaanxi province, now in the Yan'an Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, with a slightly curved cutting edge, four complete and three half holes, published in The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China, vol. 14: Shaanxi, Beijing, 2005, pl. 8. Two blades from other cultures are in the collection of the Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts, both illustrated in Jenny F. So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums, New Haven, 2019, cat. nos 6B and 6C. The former (accession no. 1943.50.47), attributed to the Shenmu culture, has a dark amber brown tone and three similarly sized holes in a linear arrangement. The latter (accession no. 1943.50.32), attributed to the Qijia culture, drilled with four holes and a fifth one close to the short side, has an opaque mottled grey colour.