Period:Neolithic Period Production date:4000BC-2000BC
Materials:jade
Technique:polished, bevelled, drilled,
Dimensions:Length: 30 centimetres Width: 6.70 centimetres
Description:
Sceptre of variegated and opaque brownish-black jade with root-like veining finished to a soft polish.
IMG
![图片[1]-sceptre BM-2022-3034.81-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Neolithic Period/Jades/455_.jpg)
Comments:The long, slender and concave blade flares towards two sharpened prongs, which are of different lengths, at the concave cutting edge which has been bevelled on one side. At the base of the blade are two slanting projections. A conical perforation is at the base of the tang which has been chipped at one corner. Shang. Neolithic or Erlitou, c.2000BC-1700BC. This blade is one of the most unusual of all jade blade types. It consists of a slightly spreading blade with an asymmetrical curved end, whose bevelled edge contributes to the sense of three-dimensional form suggested by some blades of this category. Both carefully smoothed and polished surfaces are slightly concave. Two small projecting flanges at the bottom terminate the blade, which then narrows into a tang, abraded at one corner. There is a hole drilled from one side at the centre of the tang. Whilst almost all other ceremonial jade blades have prototypes in the stone implements of the neolithic, the sources of this shape remain something of a mystery. It has been suggested by several authors that the deeply curved upper edge is reminiscent of the bone ploughs known from the early neolithic site of Hemudu in Zhejiang province, but probably used over a much longer period. The shape also approximates to that of a bronze implement found at Erlitou, which is of the same period as one of the most outstanding examples of the jade type. However, the bronze could have been made with reference to the jade as easily as the other way round. The most complex specimens of the type are jades from Erlitou and Xinzheng, and this period seems to have been the high point for the manufacture of these blades. The Erlitou pieces have complex notches at the tang, emphasised by fine incised lines across the width. Other, similar blades from Erlitou were found in a burial placed along the centre of the body. This prominent position draws attention to their high value as emblems or regalia. The distribution of this blade type is wide and has excited considerable discussion. As with the knife-shaped blades, in the northern metropolitan regions there are two principal sources: Shandong and Shaanxi, principally the hoard at Shaanxi Shenmu Shimao. Scholars are divided as to which of these two areas was the place of origin of this blade type. A few scholars have even suggested that the shape must refer to a sceptre, perhaps in some other material, such as bone, known in the Liangzhu culture, for some graphs or sings on Liangzhu jades appear to show the blade shape. So far no solution to the conundrum is in sight. See Rawson 1995, pp.188-190, cat.no.10.21.
Materials:jade
Technique:polished, bevelled, drilled,
Dimensions:Length: 30 centimetres Width: 6.70 centimetres
Description:
Sceptre of variegated and opaque brownish-black jade with root-like veining finished to a soft polish.
IMG
Comments:The long, slender and concave blade flares towards two sharpened prongs, which are of different lengths, at the concave cutting edge which has been bevelled on one side. At the base of the blade are two slanting projections. A conical perforation is at the base of the tang which has been chipped at one corner. Shang. Neolithic or Erlitou, c.2000BC-1700BC. This blade is one of the most unusual of all jade blade types. It consists of a slightly spreading blade with an asymmetrical curved end, whose bevelled edge contributes to the sense of three-dimensional form suggested by some blades of this category. Both carefully smoothed and polished surfaces are slightly concave. Two small projecting flanges at the bottom terminate the blade, which then narrows into a tang, abraded at one corner. There is a hole drilled from one side at the centre of the tang. Whilst almost all other ceremonial jade blades have prototypes in the stone implements of the neolithic, the sources of this shape remain something of a mystery. It has been suggested by several authors that the deeply curved upper edge is reminiscent of the bone ploughs known from the early neolithic site of Hemudu in Zhejiang province, but probably used over a much longer period. The shape also approximates to that of a bronze implement found at Erlitou, which is of the same period as one of the most outstanding examples of the jade type. However, the bronze could have been made with reference to the jade as easily as the other way round. The most complex specimens of the type are jades from Erlitou and Xinzheng, and this period seems to have been the high point for the manufacture of these blades. The Erlitou pieces have complex notches at the tang, emphasised by fine incised lines across the width. Other, similar blades from Erlitou were found in a burial placed along the centre of the body. This prominent position draws attention to their high value as emblems or regalia. The distribution of this blade type is wide and has excited considerable discussion. As with the knife-shaped blades, in the northern metropolitan regions there are two principal sources: Shandong and Shaanxi, principally the hoard at Shaanxi Shenmu Shimao. Scholars are divided as to which of these two areas was the place of origin of this blade type. A few scholars have even suggested that the shape must refer to a sceptre, perhaps in some other material, such as bone, known in the Liangzhu culture, for some graphs or sings on Liangzhu jades appear to show the blade shape. So far no solution to the conundrum is in sight. See Rawson 1995, pp.188-190, cat.no.10.21.
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