A rare fragment of an archaic dark green jade ceremonial blade (Yazhang), Late Neolithic period - Shang dynasty | 新石器時代末至商 玉牙璋殘部

Collection of Conrad W. Anner (1889-1960). 

Collection of Stanley Charles Nott (1902-1969).

Nott Family Collection.

Christie's New York, 20th-21st November 1979, lot 440.

E&J Frankel, New York, 1980-81. 

Conrad W. Anner (1889-1960) 收藏

Stanley Charles Nott (1902-1969) 收藏

Nott 家族收藏

紐約佳士得1979年11月20至21日，編號440

E&J Frankel，紐約，1980至1981年

Jade blades of this form carved with teeth-like notches are called yazhang, a term first used by the eminent late Qing dynasty scholar collector Wu Dacheng (1835-1902) in his book Guyu tukao [Study of ancient jade]. Yazhang were first produced during the Neolithic period. The production of yazhang was popular in the Xia and Shang dynasties and the geographic distribution of this blade type is surprisingly wide, including Shandong, Shaanxi, Henan, and Sichuan provinces. The function of yazhang has been an area of discussion, and interpretations of it as a military implement have been suggested in ancient texts such as the Zhouli [Rites of Zhou], as well as Zheng Xuan's commentaries in the Eastern Han dynasty. Blades of this form are often of large size and are finely and thinly carved suggesting a ceremonial function, which is consistent with the archaeological excavation findings of yazhang from sacrificial pits.

Compare two jade yazhang of this type, excavated at Shimao, Shenmu county, Shaanxi province, attributed to the later phase of the Longshan culture, now in the Shaanxi History Museum, Xi'an, published in Liu Yunhui, ed., Zhongguo chutu yuqi quanji / The Complete Collection of Unearthed Jades in China, vol. 14, Beijing, 2005, pl. 18. See also a Shang dynasty example, formerly in the collection of Alfred F. Pillsbury, bequeathed to the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, published on the Museum's website (accession no. 50.46.392). For auctioned examples, see one from the David-Weill Collection, attributed to Neolithic period to early Shang dynasty, sold in our Paris rooms, 16th December 2015, lot 14; and another from the Chang Wei-Hwa Collection, attributed to the Erlitou culture or slightly earlier, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30th November 2020, lot 2702.