Axe (1766–1045 BCE): Art, History and Details

Axe (1766–1045 BCE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The head of an owl with large eyes and ears, sitting above the blade of a halberd-axe, may have deterred evil and harm from its carrier. Whether such an axe was used in ritual or warfare is not clear.

Object facts

• Title: Axe
• Date: 1766–1045 BCE
• Culture: China, Shang dynasty (c. 1600–c. 1046 BCE)
• Type: Metalwork
• Technique: bronze
• Dimensions: Overall: 23.8 cm (9 3/8 in.)
• Collection: China - Shang Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1941.549

A detail from the museum

A staff or pike would have attached to the blade via the socket below the owl's head.

Collection credit

Edward L. Whittemore Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Ackerman, Phyllis. Ritual Bronzes of Ancient China. New York: The Dryden Press, 1945.
• Prodan, Mario. Chinese Art: An Introduction. London: Hutchinson, 1958.
• Von Spee, Clarissa. "Art In New Dimensions: Chinese Miniature and Small Objects at the Cleveland Museum of Art." Arts of Asia 52, no. 4 (Winter 2022): 117-121.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.