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

the gently curved yuan crisply cast with a recessed reserve enclosing two abstract motifs on either side, extending to the nei rendered in the form of a ferocious feline with mouth agape revealing sharp fangs, its sinuous scaly body terminating in muscular limbs and sharp claws, above a mythical bird facing downward and grasping a serpent with its beak and claw, set against the qiong decorated with bands of fine scrolls separated by ribbed borders, with two small circular chuan pierced near the bottom on each side, the surface with occasional areas of malachite encrustation
Width 6 1/8 in., 15.7 cm

Provenance:
Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978).