Knife (dao 刀)

Knife blade with single cutting edge, curved to point; straight back with extended, elongated tang; double-level notches on top; opaque greenish-white. (Totally calcified; one nick on cutting edge; brownish surface substance [from textile?], mostly on one side; with red specks on this side [from number paint?].)

Historical period(s)
Anyang period, Late Shang dynasty, ca. 1300-ca. 1050 BCE
Medium
Jade (nephrite)
Dimensions
H x W x D: 5.4 × 25.9 × 0.5 cm (2 1/8 × 10 3/16 × 3/16 in)
Geography
China, probably Henan province, Anyang
Credit Line
Gift of Arthur M. Sackler
Collection
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Accession Number
S1987.706
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceremonial Object, Jade
Type

Ceremonial object: knife

Keywords
Anyang period (ca. 1300 - ca. 1050 BCE), China
Provenance

By 1939 to 1959
Diedrich Abbes (1866-1959), Greenwich, CT [1]

1959 to 1987
Arthur M. Sackler, New York, purchased from the estate of Diedrich Abbes on July 10, 1959 through Frank Caro, C. T. Loo Chinese Art, New York [2]

From 1987
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Arthur M. Sackler in 1987 [3]

Notes:

[1] Diedrich Abbes loaned the collared disk to Arden Gallery, New York for "3000 Years of Chinese Jade" exhibition, see: Arden Gallery, 3000 Years of Chinese Jade exh. cat. (January 10 to February 11, 1939) no. 9 (ill.).

[2] See note on Arthur M. Sackler, M.D. letterhead acknowledging the "purchase and receipt of 17 pieces of stone carvings of the Shang, Yin-Chou and Chou periods from the Dietrich Abbes collection. The price in full, exclusive of commission, will be paid as indicated by this note in two installments," copy in object file. See also letter to Frank Caro from Arnold J. Bai of the law firm Goldstein and Peck, Bridgeport Connecticut, September 28, 1960, copy in object file. The letter asks Frank Caro to have (presumably) his client, Arthur M. Sackler, to send the final payment for the Diedrich Abbes Collection of jades to the law firm. Goldstein and Peck mistakenly identify Mr. Caro's business as C. T. Loo Company, when it was called C. T. Loo Chinese Art.

[3] Pursuant to the agreement between Arthur M. Sackler and the Smithsonian Institution, dated July 28, 1982, legal title of the donated objects was transferred to the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery on September 11, 1987.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Diedrich Abbes 1866-1959
Frank Caro 1904-1980
Dr. Arthur M. Sackler 1913-1987
C.T. Loo Chinese Art 1953-1961

Description

Knife blade with single cutting edge, curved to point; straight back with extended, elongated tang; double-level notches on top; opaque greenish-white. (Totally calcified; one nick on cutting edge; brownish surface substance [from textile?], mostly on one side; with red specks on this side [from number paint?].)

Published References
  • J. Keith Wilson, Jingmin Zhang. Jades for Life and Death. .
  • Alfred Salmony. 3000 Years of Chinese Jade. Exh. cat. New York, January 10 - February 1, 1939. no .9.
  • et al. Asian Art in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery: The Inaugural Gift. Washington, 1987. cat. 706, p. 90.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Jades for Life and Death
Google Cultural Institute
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