AN EXTREMELY RARE NOTCHED YELLOW JADE AXE, QI, ZHOU DYNASTY China, 1045-256 BC. The thin axe with a square top and long sides notched with small flanges, drilled with a small square hole at the top end, and a curved bell-shaped blade reminiscent of a Tibetan kartika flaying knife. The translucent and partly calcified stone of a pale greenish-yellow tone with white streaks and russet veins. Provenance: Sydney L. Moss Ltd., London, 2 March 1971 (a copy of the original invoice accompanies this lot). Josette Schulmann, Theo Schulmann, Paris, acquired from the above on 2 March 1971. Condition: Original condition and very impressive considering the age of this piece! Minor wear as well as extensive weathering and erosion, particularly to one side of the blade, small chips and losses. Weight: 244.6 g Dimensions: Height 18.3 cm The signed invoice from Sydney L. Moss Ltd. dated 2 March 1971 describes this piece as "a Chinese archaic Jade Axehead of fine form, set with four lugs, the main shaft with square hole and finely fluted, the blade bellshaped, the Jade of Celadon tones with brown markings. Chou Dynasty, B.C. 1122-256. [sic]". The notched flanges on the long sides of this axe distinguish it from the more common plain-form axes. During the late Neolithic, most especially in the Longshan culture, these flanges first appear on axes. Literature comparison: Compare with two late Shang dynasty jade axes in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., accession numbers S1987.691 and S1987.566. Another notched jade ceremonial axe can be found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, accession number 17.118.45, and was exhibited in "Arts of China" in 2005. A related axe from the Zhou dynasty can be found in the British Museum, London, museum number 1947,0712.518. Shanghai bowuguan. Zhongugo gudai yuqi guan/Shanghai Museum Ancient Jade Gallery, Shanghai, 1996, p. 14. Robert P. Youngman, The Youngman Collection of Chinese Jades from Neolithic to Qing, Chicago, 2008, pl. 22. Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, pp. 176-8. The Jades from Yinxu, Beijing, 1981, pl. 25, no. 459. 極罕見黃玉鉞，周朝 中國，公元前1045-256。薄薄的斧頭有一個正方形的頂部和長的側面，上面刻有小凸緣，頂端鑽有一個小方孔，一個彎曲的鐘形刀片使人聯想起藏族卡特裏卡皮刀。玉料半透明且部分鈣化，呈淺綠色黃色，帶有白色條紋和赤褐色脈。 來源：倫敦Sydney L. Moss Ltd.。巴黎Josette Schulmann與Theo Schulmann 1971年3月2日購於上述藝廊(附一份原始發票)。 品相：考慮到這件作品的年代，原始狀態和令人印象深刻！ 輕微磨損以及廣泛的風化和侵蝕，尤其是葉片的一側，小的磕損 重量：244.6 克 尺寸：高 18.3 厘米