A VERY RARE TURQUOISE-INLAID BRONZE GE-HALBERD BLADE

SHANG DYNASTY, ANYANG PHASE, CIRCA 1200 BC

Details

A VERY RARE TURQUOISE-INLAID BRONZE GE-HALBERD BLADE
SHANG DYNASTY, ANYANG PHASE, CIRCA 1200 BC
The long, slightly curved bronze blade cast in relief with a median ridge extending from the projecting guard to the tip, the hilt cast in the shape of a dragon's head with down-curved snout outlined in hooked notches, a bifurcated crest, and small horns that project either side of the mane which is also edged in hooked notches, both sides inlaid in turquoise tesserae that detail the features, including the eyes
13¾ in. (35 cm.) long

Provenance

Acquired prior to 1965.

Exhibited

Columbia University, New York, February 1965.

If you wish to view the condition report of this lot, please sign in to your account.

View condition report

Lot Essay

This rare turquoise-inlaid bronze ge would have been made at the same time as the examples with similar bird's-head hilt, but with a jade rather than a bronze blade, such as lot 230.
For a similar all bronze example that appears to have lost its inlay, see Max Loehr, Chinese Bronze Age Weapons, The University of Michigan, 1956, pl. XXVII, no. 60. See, also, the similar ge in the collection of Fritz Low-Beer, included in the Exhibition of Chinese Art, Venice, 1954, p. 29, no. 43.

More from Fine Chinese Art from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections

View All