A PALE CELADON JADE CEREMONIAL BLADE, GUI, QIJIA Jade. China, Qijia culture, c. 2200-1600 BC

This elegant sceptre-like jade is rather unique and very refined when compared to most of the other excavated Qijia culture specimens. The three grooves carved near the top end represent an unusual feature rarely seen on Qijia culture jades and suggest a ceremonial usage for this very thin and translucent blade. The hafting hole is drilled from one side and the cutting edge is curved. The translucent stone of a pale celadon tone with cloudy white inclusions and veins with some russet veins as well as sparse dark speckles.

Compare a semi-translucent pale grayish-white jade axe, dated to the 2nd-1st millennium BC, at Christie’s New York in The Collection of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth Part III - Chinese Works of Art: Qing Ceramics, Glass and Jade Carvings on 19 March 2015, lot 522, sold for USD 13,750.

LENGTH 26 cm, WIDTH 4 cm

Provenance: Collection of Prof. Filippo Salviati.