Lot 151. A black stone axe, Neolithic period. Length 18.4 cm, 7¼ in. Lot sold: 3,780 GBP (Estimate: 3,000 - 5,000 GBP). © 2022 Sotheby's.

of rounded rectangular form, the slightly flared blade pierced at the narrow 'butt' end with a circular aperture, with another drilled hole in the butt forming a notch beside it, the dark stone with calcification and erosion at one corner and flecks to the body.

Provenance: Pin Chen Tang, Hong Kong, October 1987.

Literature: Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, pl. 10:4.

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