A small archaic jade ceremonial jade dagger-axe (ge), Shang Dynasty, circa 13th-11th Century B.C. Length 6 1⁄16 inches (15.4 cm). Price On Request. © 2020 J.J. Lally & Co., New York

the straight blade with beveled edges and shallow medial ridge, abruptly tapered to a sharp point, the squared tang with a small hole, with encrusted cinnabar red on one side.

An archaic jade ceremonial blade of very similar shape and size in the British Museum is illustrated by Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p. 195, no. 10:25.