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Published: Jean-Paul Desroches (ed.) et al, Two Americans in Paris. A Quest for Asian Art, Paris, 2016, p. 50, no. 92.
Exhibited:
1. Pointe-à-Callière Museum, From the Lands of Asia. The Sam and Myrna Myers Collection, Montréal, 17 November 2016-19 March 2017.
2. Kimbell Art Museum, From the Lands of Asia. The Sam and Myrna Myers Collection, Fort Worth, Texas, 4 March-19 August 2018.
China, c. 13th-11th century BC. The long blade with a median ridge extending on both sides and beveled edges continuing to where the blade begins to taper to the point, issuing from a bronze handle decorated on either side with a stylized taotie mask cast in thread-relief below the hafting bar and hole in the nei which is cast to one side with a clan mark. The opaque stone of variegating hues of grayish-green, deep celadon, and dark olive with brown and ivory-white shadings.
Inscriptions:
The pictogram cast onto the current blade’s handle can be interpreted as xian (先) and depicts the stylized profile of a human figure surmounted by a footprint. This ideographic composition conveys the concept of leadership or precedence, symbolizing an individual who ‘leads the way’ or ‘goes before others’. Such clan marks were not merely decorative, but rather served as powerful identity symbols for elite lineage groups and would have carried connotations of authority, ancestral prestige, and divine sanction. Objects of this type and quality were likely used in ceremonial contexts, possibly associated with ancestral worship or elite martial display.
Provenance: The Collection of Sam and Myrna Myers, Paris, France. Acquired between circa 1965-2012.
Condition: Superb condition, commensurate with age. Old wear, signs of prolonged burial and traces of weathering, minuscule nibbles, one small chip to the edge. The bronze is richly encrusted and covered in a naturally grown patina with vibrant malachite as well as scattered cuprite and azurite encrustations.
Weight: 252.2 g
Dimensions: Length 25.1 cm
This magnificent halberd blade exemplifies a weapon type first developed at Erlitou (c. 1900–1500 BC) and brought to full maturity during the Shang dynasty. Shang artisans elevated the form with exquisite craftsmanship, often embellishing examples with jade inlay and casting complex taotie masks as seen in the current lot. Blades such as this reflect the dual function of the ge as both a military implement and a symbol of elite authority. Similar examples have been recovered from high-status tombs, notably at Anyang, underscoring their ritual significance and political value. The fine casting and rich burial patina attest to the object’s age and importance.
Expert’s note:
The line-work on the taotie decoration on this present lot is particularly fine. The taotie would have been inlaid, probably with turquoise or other precious materials. Compare two related examples with intact inlay, one excavated from the Tomb of Fu Hao, c. 1200 BC, Anyang, and exhibited in the National Museum of China, and another formerly in the collections of Arthur M. Sackler and Chang Wei-Hwa, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30th November 2020, lot 2706.
Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related jade dagger-axe in a bronze haft with taotie and zoomophic designs, dated to the Shang dynasty, 12th-11th century BC, 23.8 cm long, in the Harvard Art Museums, object number 1943.51.7, illustrated by Max Loehr and Louisa G. Fitzgerald Huber, Ancient Chinese Jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, 1975, cat. no. 74, where the designs are described as “bronze cloisons, but without any trace of inlay.”
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 22 April 2021, lot 46
Price: HKD 2,252,000 or approx. EUR 266,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A jade ge and archaic bronze haft, Shang dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form of the beveled blade and similar bronze handle cast in thread-relief with taotie masks. Note the size (18.5 cm).
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s London, 3 November 2020, lot 1
Price: GBP 212,500 or approx. EUR 342,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A very rare jade halberd blade with turquoise-inlaid bronze shaft, ge, late Shang dynasty, Anyang, 12th-11th century BC
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form of the beveled blade and similar color of the stone, and bronze handle cast in thread-relief with taotie masks. Note the related size (23.2 cm).
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