H x W x D: 42.7 × 10.9 × 0.5 cm (16 13/16 × 4 5/16 × 3/16 in)
Type:
Ceremonial Object
Origin:
China
Date:
ca. 5000-ca. 1700 BCE
Period:
Late Neolithic period
Description:
Ceremonial implement; long, thin, trapezoidal blade form with sharp, beveled cutting edge; three conical perforations near upper edge, smaller one below; short ends diagonal; translucent, mottled light blue and greenish gray with brown and black markings, brown area at one end with red veinings; irregularly cut. (Breaks, chips on edges.)
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. 1034, pg. 229, 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)
