Lot 2005. A greenish-grey stone axe, Neolithic period, circa 4th-3rd millennium BC; 5 5/8 in. (14.3 cm.) long. Estimate USD 3,000 - USD 5,000. Price Realized USD 5,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2014. 

The thick blade tapers to the sides and flares towards the rounded, beveled cutting edge. The hafting hole is drilled from both sides. The stone is of mottled greenish-grey color and has a satiny polish.

Provenance: J.J. Lally & Co., New York, February 1997.

Exhibited: New York, J.J. Lally & Co., Archaic Chinese Bronzes, Jades and Works of Art, June 1994, no. 14.

Note: A stone axe of similar shape, described as carved from "shale", from the Liangzhu site at Fanshan, near Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, is illustrated in a line drawing in Wenwu, 1988, No. 1, p. 8, fig. 10:7, and described on p. 7.

Property from the Jacob and Mary Stein Collection. 

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 20 - 21 March 2014