The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 29, 2025

Axe

1766–1045 BCE
(c. 1600–c. 1046 BCE)
bronze
Overall: 23.8 cm (9 3/8 in.)
Edward L. Whittemore Fund 1941.549
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

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

Description

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.
  • ?–1941
    (Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1941–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Ackerman, Phyllis. Ritual Bronzes of Ancient China. New York: The Dryden Press, 1945. Reproduced: pl. 62
    Prodan, Mario. Chinese Art: An Introduction. London: Hutchinson, 1958. Reproduced: pl. 6
    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. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 118-119, fig. 4
    von Spee, Clarissa. “China through the Magnifying Glass: Miniature and small objects in detail.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine vol. 62, no. 4 (December 2022): 14-16. Reproduced and Mentioned: P. 14.
  • China through the Magnifying Glass: Masterpieces in Miniature and Detail. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 11, 2022-February 26, 2023).
  • {{cite web|title=Axe|url=false|author=|year=1766–1045 BCE|access-date=29 April 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1941.549