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China, Shang dynasty, early Anyang period, ca. 1300-1200 BCE
Bronze with turquoise inlay and jade (nephrite) blade
Purchase F1941.4

From the Neolithic period and early Bronze Age, ceremonial tools and weapons were created as symbols of power, yet their forms are based on efficient bronze objects, such as the hafted axe, dagger-axe, and chisel. Resembling a small spade, this ceremonial tool has a jade blade that is fitted into a shallow slot at the base of the bronze handle. Corrosion extending from the bronze onto the jade surface proves these two parts have been together since antiquity. The turquoise inlay is almost completely intact, another indication this ornate chisel has changed very little over several millennia.

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Little was known about these exceptional jades when museum founder Charles Lang Freer acquired them in the early twentieth century. On a technical level he appreciated their craftsmanship and the challenges of working with jade, and as a connoisseur he was attracted to the subtle beauty of the stone, its tactile qualities, and the visual appeal of the shapes. Freer assembled an outstanding collection of ancient Chinese jades long before most other Western collectors and museums took an active interest in them. Since then, controlled archaeological excavations and scholarly research have proven the jades now in the Freer Gallery of Art date to the earliest ages of Chinese civilization.

Poetically described two thousand years ago in China as the "fairest of stones," jade actually refers to two different minerals, nephrite and jadeite. All of the true jades found at ancient Chinese sites are made of fine-grained nephrite. In its purest state nephrite lacks color; impurities create the variations of yellow, green, brown, and black. Most of the jades recovered from Liangzhu tombs are dark green to brown, while the finest jewelry is lighter green, suggesting this rarer material was reserved for more ornamental use. Later Neolithic cultures farther north favored almost pure black nephrite, likely because it was available locally. Smaller works, especially jewelry, created during the later Bronze Age feature beige jade possibly imported from Central Asia.

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One of the largest and most impressive early foundries was at Anyang, the capital of the late Shang dynasty from about 1300 to 1050 BCE. Located in northeastern Henan province, Anyang has been under almost constant archaeological excavation since 1928. The Bronze Age site encompassed a major settlement with huge tombs linked to twelve kings. All of these royal burials were looted centuries ago, but some of the undisturbed aristocratic tombs have yielded bronzes of astounding quality, including many of the ritual containers now in the Freer Gallery of Art.

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A comprehensive, world-class collection of paintings from the 10th century to modern times, representing most major schools and many important individual artists, with particular strengths in: Song and Yuan dynasty paintings (10th–14th c.); paintings of the Ming dynasty Zhe School (15th–16th c.); early Qing dynasty paintings from the 17th century, including the largest and most significant collection in the West of works by Bada Shanren (1626–1705); and commemorative portraits (17th–19th c.)

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One of the world's best collections of ancient metalwork, including an exceptional representation of bronze ritual vessels and weaponry from the Shang (ca. 1600–ca. 1050 BCE) and Zhou (ca. 1050–ca. 221 BCE) dynasties, as well as a small collection of exquisite Tang dynasty (618–907) gold and silver objects