Page 24 - March 16, 2017 Chinese Art, The Harris Collection, Christies

812
A BRONZE DAGGER WITH RATTLE
12TH-11TH CENTURY BC

The tapering blade has a raised midrib on each side that extends
from the tip through the plain guard, and the curved hilt is
cast with a central band of diamond decoration set between
horizontal linear borders, all below a small attachment loop and
an eight-strap openwork rattle with convex cap. The blackish
surface has a smooth polish.
10Ω in. (26.6 cm.) long

$3,000-5,000

PROVENANCE

The Erwin Harris Collection, Miami, Florida, by 1995.

LITERATURE

J. F. So and E. C. Bunker, Traders and Raiders on China’s Northern
Frontier, Washington D.C., Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 1995,
p. 100-101, no. 14.

J. F. So in Traders and Raiders on China’s Northern Frontier, p.
100, notes that a virtually identical dagger was found in Ji Xian,
northern Shaanxi province. See, also, the two related daggers,
or short swords, with rattle pommels, illustrated by E. C.
Bunker et al., Ancient Bronzes of the Eastern Eurasian Steppes
from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Arthur M. Sackler
Foundation, New York, 1997, pp. 118-19, nos. 3 and 4.

公元前十二至十一世紀 青銅鈴首短劍

811 812

811
A BRONZE KNIFE WITH RATTLE
13TH-11TH CENTURY BC
The tapering blade has a raised median rib on each side that
extends from the center of the ribbed hilt which is set at one end
with a small attachment loop below the eight-strap, openwork
rattle pommel.
11¡ in. (29 cm.) long

$2,000-3,000

PROVENANCE

Private collection, Paris; Hôtel Drouot-Richelieu, Paris, 18
October 1996.
The Erwin Harris Collection, Miami, Florida.

Compare the similar knife of slightly smaller size (26.2 cm.) in
the Shanghai Museum illustrated by Ma Chengyuan, Ancient
Chinese Bronzes, Oxford University Press, 1986, p. 80, pl. 141.

公元前十三至十一世紀 青銅鈴首短劍

22 THE HARRIS COLLECTION:
IMPORTANT EARLY CHINESE ART