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Lot Essay
The present bronze scabbard is a rare example of a double-sheathed form, composed of two adjoining blade cases of oval section. One side of the shorter sheath is decorated with stylized donkeys, while the longer sheath bears four bucks. The reverse of the scabbard features two vertical columns of triangular apertures, lending both visual rhythm and practical lightness to the structure.
Double-sheathed scabbards are exceptionally rare. Related examples have been excavated in Inner Mongolia and date from the late Western Zhou to the early Spring and Autumn period. Notably, a bronze double scabbard and blade discovered in a tomb at Nanshan’gen, Ningcheng County, Inner Mongolia, is published in Chugoku Uchi Moko Happo Kiba Minzoku Bunka Ten, Tokyo, 1983, no. 6, p. 24. Another related pair of double scabbards and blades, was excavated at Xiaoheishigou, also in Ningcheng County, and illustrated in Wenwu, 1995, no. 5, pl. II:3. While similar in construction, both excavated scabbard are decorated only with triangular apertures and lack the elaborate zoophoric ornamentation seen on the present example.
The depiction of animal motifs on the present scabbard is particularly significant. These decorative features likely reflect the beliefs and material culture of the northern pastoral communities that produced them. They may have been imbued with talismanic power, intended to enhance the prowess or protection of the warrior or hunter who carried them, while simultaneously elevating the aesthetic quality of his equipment. A related decorative scheme appears on a carved bone from a tomb in Nanshan’gen, dated to the 9th–7th century BC, and published in Kaogu, 1981, vol. 4, p. 307, fig. 6.
Double-sheathed scabbards are exceptionally rare. Related examples have been excavated in Inner Mongolia and date from the late Western Zhou to the early Spring and Autumn period. Notably, a bronze double scabbard and blade discovered in a tomb at Nanshan’gen, Ningcheng County, Inner Mongolia, is published in Chugoku Uchi Moko Happo Kiba Minzoku Bunka Ten, Tokyo, 1983, no. 6, p. 24. Another related pair of double scabbards and blades, was excavated at Xiaoheishigou, also in Ningcheng County, and illustrated in Wenwu, 1995, no. 5, pl. II:3. While similar in construction, both excavated scabbard are decorated only with triangular apertures and lack the elaborate zoophoric ornamentation seen on the present example.
The depiction of animal motifs on the present scabbard is particularly significant. These decorative features likely reflect the beliefs and material culture of the northern pastoral communities that produced them. They may have been imbued with talismanic power, intended to enhance the prowess or protection of the warrior or hunter who carried them, while simultaneously elevating the aesthetic quality of his equipment. A related decorative scheme appears on a carved bone from a tomb in Nanshan’gen, dated to the 9th–7th century BC, and published in Kaogu, 1981, vol. 4, p. 307, fig. 6.