AN EXCEPTIONAL TURQUOISE-INLAID BRONZE AND JADE GE-HALBERD BLADE

LATE SHANG DYNASTY, ANYANG PHASE, CIRCA 1300-1100 BC

Details

AN EXCEPTIONAL TURQUOISE-INLAID BRONZE AND JADE GE-HALBERD BLADE
LATE SHANG DYNASTY, ANYANG PHASE, CIRCA 1300-1100 BC
The short grey-green jade blade now almost completely altered to an opaque mottled buff color with beveled edges and a conical hole, the haft finely inlaid on both sides in turquoise tesserae with a taotie mask set beneath a blade-shaped panel enclosing a further taotie, the handle with flat projecting hafting bar, a plain nei with a hole and a butt cast in the shape of a bird with large hooked beak, bifurcated crest, long curled tail and bent leg with upturned talon, the channels of the design with further tuquoise inlay, with green encrustation
13 in. (33 cm.) long

Provenance

Acquired prior to 1987.

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Lot Essay

This rare ge-halberd blade is particularly richly decorated with turquoise inlay. The shape of the bird's-head hilt is similar to that seen on other turquoise-inlaid examples, such as that on the ge excavated from the tomb of the Shang queen, Fu Hao, consort of king Wu Ding, at Anyang, Henan province, illustrated in Yinxu Yuqi (The Jades from Yinxu), Beijing, 1982, pl. 17. Both the Fu Hao and the Sackler ge have a bronze socket inlaid with turquoise into which the blade is inserted. The socket of the Sackler ge is particularly deep allowing for a rich pattern of taotie masks.

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