A RARE ARCHAIC BRONZE CEREMONIAL HALBERD BLADE (GE) EASTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, SPRING AND AUTUMN PERIOD |

well cast with the gently curved yuan extending to the nei in the form of a ferocious mythical feline with mouth agape revealing sharp fangs, its sinuous scaly body terminating in muscular limbs and sharp claws, grasping a bird facing in the opposite direction detailed with large rounded eyes and hooked beak, all above the qiong pierced with a small circular chuan below a band of intertwined waves against a stippled ground, the surface patinated with patches of malachite encrustation

Frank Caro, successor to C.T. Loo, New York, acquired prior to 1954.
Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978).

Mostra d'arte cinese [Exhibition of Chinese art], Venice, 1954, cat. no. 102.

There are three cracks and a small restored shallow chip to the rim of the qiong. Old infills can be observed on the inside of the pierced design. The blade is very slightly bent to the left. Some minute nicks to the edges and extremities, as can be expected.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Numerous halberd blades were discovered and collected in the Huai Valley areas of Anhui and Jiangsu by Orvar Karlbeck and others, many of which found their way into Western collections. See a closely related halberd blade cast with a feline surmounting a bird and of a slightly larger size, from the David David-Weill Collection, sold in our Paris rooms, 16th December 2015, lot 36; and another, included in the exhibition "Animal style" Art from East to West, Asia House Gallery, New York, 1970, cat. no. 65. See also an example from the Stoclet Collection, published in Otto Kümmel, Jörg Trübner zum Gedächtnis. Ergebnisse seiner letzten Chinesischen Reisen, Berlin, 1929, pl. 24; and H.F.E. Visser, Asiatic Art, New York, 1948, pl. 40, no. 49; one in the Museum of Five Continents, Munich, illustrated in Xueqin Li and Sarah Allan, Chinese Bronzes: A Selection from European Collections, Beijing, 1995, pl. 130; and another in the Guimet Museum, Paris, illustration in Xueqin Li and Sarah Allan, ibid., pl. 131. Halberd blades of this type are also known to have been excavated in Shanxi province, such as one excavated in Miaoqian village, Wanrong county, Shanxi province, in 1961, published in Shanxi chutu wenwu [Cultural relics excavated in Shanxi], Shanxi, 1980, pl. 93.