A CEREMONIAL ‘TAOTIE’ JADE AXE, HAN DYNASTY China, 206 BC-220 AD. The jade carved on each side with a central taotie mask surrounded by scroll designs above the curved blade with three pendent plantain leaves, the shaft pierced with a circular aperture for suspension, the shaft and blade each flanked by short flanges. The partly translucent jade of a celadon tone with dark-gray and brown shadings and russet inclusions as well as areas of calcification. Provenance: The present lot was part of an important collection of archaic Chinese bronzes, built by three generations of the Chasseloupe-Laubat family in France. Prosper de Chasseloup-Laubat (1805-1873), was a prominent aristocrat, politician, and art collector who became Minister of the French Navy and the Colonies under Napoleon III, traveling extensively through all of Asia. His son Louis (1863-1954), an engineer in ship design, significantly expanded the family collection, also during his frequent travels throughout Asia. François (1904-1968), Prosper’s grandson, eventually inherited the family passion and became a renowned explorer and participant in the Hoggar Expedition. He was the first French explorer to reach English Malaysia, bringing back previously unpublished documents on the isolated Sakai tribes. As a collector, François Chasseloupe-Laubat was advised by Jean Claude Moreau-Gobard, an important French collector and dealer specializing in Asian art. Published: J.C. Moreau-Gobard, Chine – Terres cuites, 1 July 1965, p. 6, no. 3. Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Ancient wear, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations, calcification, small nicks, minute losses. The jade with natural inclusions and fissures, some of which may have developed into small hairline cracks. French Export License: Certificat d’exportation pour un bien culturel Nr. 243196 dated 3 October 2023 has been granted and a copy is accompanying this lot. Weight: 51.4 g Dimensions: Length 8.7 cm Literature comparison: Compare a related earlier jade axe with mask design, dated to the Shang dynasty, 9.8 cm long, in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, accession number 50.46.276.