EASTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, 5TH-3RD CENTURY BC

The rare stone spearhead is based on bronze prototypes, such as the one in the British Museum, illustrated by W. Watson, Ancient Chinese Bronzes, col. pl. C. It is dated 4th century BC, and has a similar type of inscription inlaid in gold surrounded by a variegated surface pattern which, on the present stone spearhead, is simulated by the fine scroll decoration. A stone spearhead very similar to the present one, excavated in 1958 from the tomb of Yue Wong, a king of the Warring States period, Shaoshing, Zhejiang province, is illustrated in Zhejiang Wen Wu, 1985, col. pl. 44. It appears that during the Warring States period, bronze was in short supply in Zhejiang province and objects that would normally have been made from bronze, such as bells, vessels, axes, etc., as well as spearheads, were made from pottery or stone for ceremonial and burial purposes. Pieces of this kind are in the collection of the Zhejiang Provincial Museum.
The bronze spear head is very similar to one illustrated by O. Karlbeck, "Selected Objects from Ancient Shou-Chou", BMFEA 27, 1955, pl. 3 (2).