Jade. Late Neolithic period, early Bronze Age, c.2100-1900 BC
玉æ‰æ–§ - é’銅器时代, 公元å‰21世紀-å‰19世紀
高 8,3 厘米; 寬 5,4 厘米
The most striking feature of this roughly rectangular shaped jade axe is the multicoloured type of jade out of which the object has been carved. One portion of the blade is in fact of a yellowish, opaque colour which contrasts pleasantly with the snow-white hue on the sides of the axe. The white areas are also crossed by numerous, short black veins generated by the inclusions contained in the jade: additional shades of grey and brown complement the natural variations in colour of the stone. Some natural cracks and fissures distributed across the jade’s surface display traces of soil: they are also visible within the hole, which has been drilled from one side only of the axe. The lateral sides gently widen towards the sharpened cutting edge, while the butt is rounded and slightly bevelled. There is a small chip near one of the top corners of the axe, next to a fault in the stone: the whole jade is polished and all edges have been smoothed down.
Such a variegated palette is not often seen on jade axes of the late Neolithic, early Bronze Age: the jade artefacts excavated from the Jinsha Bronze Age site, in the suburbs of Chengdu, Sichuan Province,provide a good example of multicoloured jades used to craft different types of objects.
HEIGHT 8,3 CM, WIDTH 5,4 CM
From an Austrian private collection