H x W x D: 29.6 x 7.5 x 0.3 cm (11 5/8 x 2 15/16 x 1/8 in)
Culture:
Longshan culture, ca. 3000-ca. 1700 BCE Search this
Type:
Ceremonial Object
Origin:
China
Date:
ca. 2000-1700 BCE
Period:
Late Neolithic period
Description:
Thin knife blade with one cutting edge of the type hu 笏; blade beveled and sharpened; three oblong, longitudinal perforations near upper edge; reverse cut in two planes; semi-translucent, mottled yellowish gray with dark gray areas and black spots; satin smooth surface, some granular pitted areas. (Edge slightly chipped.)
Acquired with a box, now lost.
Provenance:
To 1916
Lai-Yuan and Company, New York, to 1916 [1]
From 1916 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Lai-Yuan and Company in 1916 [2]
From 1920
The Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
Notes:
[1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 880, pg. 192, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
[2] See note 1.
[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
Collection:
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Previous custodian or owner:
Lai-Yuan & Company (ca. 1915-April 1921) (C.L. Freer source)
