Chinese jade axe-head ornament carved with a deer

An image of Semi-translucent grey green jade with brownish veins, carved in the form of an archaic axe head, surmounted by a recumbent quadruped. The edges of the axe are flanked by reticulated flanges and the middle section of the axe is decorated with even rows of relief spirals. The deer on the top holds a lingzhi fungi lotus spray or lotus leaf, a motif that was popular in the Song dynasty. However, the combination of a deer with a ceremonial blade suggests it might have been copied from the woodblock print during the 18th century. Nephrite, length 12.5 cm, width 5.5 cm, 1700-1800. Chinese.

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Semi-translucent grey green jade with brownish veins, carved in the form of an archaic axe head, surmounted by a recumbent quadruped. The edges of the axe are flanked by reticulated flanges and the middle section of the axe is decorated with even rows of relief spirals. The deer on the top holds a lingzhi fungi lotus spray or lotus leaf, a motif that was popular in the Song dynasty. However, the combination of a deer with a ceremonial blade suggests it might have been copied from the woodblock print during the 18th century. Nephrite, length 12.5 cm, width 5.5 cm, 1700-1800. Chinese.

Image data

Accession Number: O.3-1940
Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Aperture: f/25.0
Focal length: 100
Camera: Canon EOS 5D
Photographer name: Michael Jones
Image height: 1025 pixels
Image width: 593 pixels
Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.0 (Windows)
Filesize: 234.55kB
Exposure time: 1/60
ISO Speed: 200
Fnumber: 25/1
Captured: 2007:12:01 14:49:09

Key words

18th Century animal animals axe axe-head ceremonial ceremonies Chinese deer Fitz_AA jade lotus lotus leaf nephrite ornament

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            The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025)
            "Chinese jade axe-head ornament carved with a deer"
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        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Chinese jade axe-head ornament carved with a deer</figcaption>
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