Lot 36A
China, Warring States Period, 475 to 221 BCE. A huge bronze dagger blade with a pronounced ridge and square tang with two holes drilled through it, one near the guard and the other one the tang. When first made, this would have had a handle, perhaps of ivory, wrapped around the tang. We owe the preservation of these ancient bronzes to their burial, either in storage pits, where they were hastily hidden by fleeing members of a defeated elite house, or, more commonly, in tombs. During the Shang dynasty, members of the royalty were accompanied in the afterlife by their bronzes, ceramics, weapons, amulets, and ornaments, and even the human and animal entourage that surrounded them in life: servants, bodyguards, horses, chariots, and charioteers. During the Warring States period sumptuous burials continued, but human sacrifice was rarely practiced, although the custom was preserved by the substitution of figurines of wood or clay intended to resemble the retinue of the deceased. Bronze weapons during the Warring States were similar to these clay figures - substitutions created for the tomb or ritual, standing in for the iron and steel blades whose superior physical properties had taken over true warfare. Size: 13.9" L x 1.4" W (35.3 cm x 3.6 cm)
Provenance: Ex-Estate of John Piscopo. Mr. Piscopo was one of the largest collectors of ancient weapons in the US with a collection that spanned all cultures, all ages.
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#116692
- Condition: Excellent shape, with smooth patina aside from tip, which has a rougher condition but is still intact and clear of shape.
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