WARRING STATES PERIOD/WESTERN HAN DYNASTY, CIRCA 3RD CENTURY BC

An almost identical dagger in the Tokyo National Museum, illustrated by Hayashi Minao, Chugoku In Shu jidai no buki, Kyoto, 1972, p. 212, fig. 309, is dated Spring and Autumn/Warring States period, and is said to have been excavated, but not where. Based on the unusual decoration and shape of this dagger, it is possible that it might come from southwestern China, possibly Yunnan province.