Chinese jade dagger blade

An image of Dagger. This unusual large jade ge blade and a short but wide tang with traces of cinnabar. The edge and surface of this halberd has calcified. The tang with rows of parallel ridged grooves, a form of decoration derived from the pattern of metal sections seen on Erlitou bronze blades. A large hole on the blade and another smaller one on the tang, were drilled from the same side. The unfinished carved line on this halberd, particularly the triangular shape in the middle, suggests that it was in the process of being altered into a different object. Large halberds such as this one are very unusual Shang tomb objects and might have appeared near the chest of the deceased. Nephrite, length 32 cm, width 18.2 cm, 1600-1050 B.C. Chinese.

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Dagger. This unusual large jade ge blade and a short but wide tang with traces of cinnabar. The edge and surface of this halberd has calcified. The tang with rows of parallel ridged grooves, a form of decoration derived from the pattern of metal sections seen on Erlitou bronze blades. A large hole on the blade and another smaller one on the tang, were drilled from the same side. The unfinished carved line on this halberd, particularly the triangular shape in the middle, suggests that it was in the process of being altered into a different object. Large halberds such as this one are very unusual Shang tomb objects and might have appeared near the chest of the deceased. Nephrite, length 32 cm, width 18.2 cm, 1600-1050 B.C. Chinese.

Image data

Accession Number: O.21-1946
Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Aperture: f/25.0
Focal length: 50
Camera: Canon EOS 5D
Photographer name: Michael Jones
Image height: 681 pixels
Image width: 1023 pixels
Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.0 (Windows)
Filesize: 85.69kB
Exposure time: 1/125
ISO Speed: 100
Fnumber: 25/1
Captured: 2007:11:16 17:25:14

Key words

BC blade carved ceremonial ceremonies Chinese dagger edged weapon Fitz_AA halberd jade nephrite weapon

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            The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025)
            " Chinese jade dagger blade"
            Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-247400163 Accessed: 2025-12-23 23:21:00

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