A Rare Early Bronze Ritual Implement, Bi

13TH-11TH CENTURY BC, NORTHWESTERN CHINA

Details

A Rare Early Bronze Ritual Implement, Bi
13th-11th century BC, Northwestern China
The four facets of the long handle pierced with trapezoidal cells below a hollow terminal cast on both sides as a simplified reptile head with goggle eyes and moveable tongue that acts as a jingle, the guard with inwardly coiled ends and the spatulate blade cast on one side with the reptile's tail and on the other with a median ridge, with mottled pale green patina
12 1/8in. (30.8cm.) long, box and stand
Falk Collection no. 524.

Provenance

Mathias Komor, New York, January 1948.

Exhibited

On loan: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1965 [L65.46.3].

Lot Essay

An almost identical alligator-headed implement, bi, is illustrated by E.C. Bunker, Ancient Bronzes of the Eastern Eurasian Steppes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, New York, 1997, p. 25, fig. A9 and pp. 114-5, no. 1, where the author notes that although the function of implements of this type is unknown, it has been proposed that they were wands used by shamans of the peoples bordering China during the Shang dynasty.

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