Lot 145. A stone 'stepped' axe, Neolithic period, Liangzhu culture (c. 3300-2250 BC); 24.5 cm, 9⅝ in. Lot sold: 3,780 GBP (Estimate: 3,000 - 4,000 GBP). © 2022 Sotheby's.

the elongated square-section blade with a sharp-angled cutting edge at one end, and a stepped 'tang' or handle-fitting at the other, the grey-green stone with calcified surface.

Provenance: Pin Chen Tang, Hong Kong, 30th November 1987.

Literature: Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, pl. 10:3.

Sotheby's. HOTUNG | 何東 The Personal Collection of the late Sir Joseph Hotung | Part II: Day. London, 8 December 2022