A RARE GOLD-INLAID BRONZE SWORD

EARLY WARRING STATES PERIOD, FIRST HALF 5TH CENTURY BC

Details

A RARE GOLD-INLAID BRONZE SWORD
EARLY WARRING STATES PERIOD, FIRST HALF 5TH CENTURY BC
The long tapering blade with beveled edges and with a distinct median ridge made from a different alloy and now of turquoise color, the guard inlaid in fine gold wire with a taotie mask on one side, and the hilt with two circular flanges below a circular, dished pommel
26½ in. (67.3 cm.) long, wood box with glass cover

Provenance

Frank Caro, New York, 1964.

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Lot Essay

A long sword (53.5 cm.) of this type, with a median ridge similarly made from a different alloy, which is inlaid in gold with an inscription of twenty characters in bird script, is illustrated by C. Delacour, De bronze, d'or et d'argent: Arts somptuaires de la Chine, Musée Guimet, Paris, 2001, pp. 130-2. The guard of the Guimet sword is similarly inlaid in gold, as well as turquoise, with a taotie mask.

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