Page 182 - 2019 September 10th Sotheby's Important Chinese Art Junkunc Collection

253 A RARE ARCHAIC BRONZE DAGGER AND SCABBARD
EASTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, SPRING AND AUTUMN PERIOD
東周 春秋 青銅蟠虺紋短劍連鞘

the openwork handle crisply cast in relief with a highly stylized dragon design formed by intricate angular scrollwork,
interspersed with multiple circular sockets for turquoise inlay, the long blade with a median ridge and beveled edges tapering
toward a pointed tip, the openwork scabbard decorated to one side with five pairs of confronting deer-like animals above a
human mask, the other side with repetitive arrow heads interrupted by a vertical band, all accentuated with further sockets
for inlay, the interior set with a crimson velvet liner (2)

Length 14⅛ in., 35.7 cm
$ 40,000-60,000

PROVENANCE 來源
Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978). 史蒂芬•瓊肯三世（1978年逝）收藏

The present lot belongs to a small group of swords that were popular in the Northern regions of ancient China,
recognizable by its characteristic intricate openwork handle adorned with turquoise inlay. See a closely related
bronze sword, missing its scabbard, attributed to the Spring and Autumn period, excavated in Anyingpu, Huailai
county, Hebei province, published in Zheng Shaozong, ‘Zhongguo beifang qingtong duanjian de fenqi ji xingzhi yanjiu
[Study of the short swords from the Northern regions in China]’, Wenwu, no. 2, Beijing, 1984, pl. 5, no. 8, where the
author notes swords of this particular type were found in the Rehe mountain regions and Yanbei regions, and were
heavily influenced by the sword styles from the central region during the Western Zhou to Spring and Autumn period.

Compare a very similar bronze sword, without its scabbard, from the collection of J.W. Alsdorf, exhibited in Arts of
the Chou Dynasty, Stanford University Museum, Stanford, 1958, cat. no. 159; and another, without its scabbard, but
with turquoise inlay preserved, exhibited in The Glorious Traditions of Chinese Bronzes, Asian Civilizations Museum,
Singapore, 2000, cat. no. 40. See also a related bronze sword of a smaller size, with a similarly decorated handle but
in low relief, from the David David-Weill Collection, sold in our Paris rooms, 16th December 2015, lot 47; and a further
example, with the handle cast with a intertwined dragon design, together with a silver scabbard similarly decorated,
formerly in the Sakamoto Collection, published in Takayasu Higuchi and Minao Hayashi, Ancient Chinese Bronzes in
the Sakamoto Collection, Tokyo, 2002, pl. 15.

本品屬於一小類青銅劍，多流行於北方，以精細鏤空嵌綠 1958年，編號159；另比一例，無劍鞘，嵌綠松石，展
松石劍柄見著。比較一例，無劍鞘，斷代春秋，河北懷來 《中國青銅器萃賞》，亞洲文明博物館，新加坡，2000
縣安營堡出土，載於鄭紹宗，〈中國北方青銅短劍的分期 年，編號40。再比一青銅劍例，尺寸較小，劍柄飾淺浮
及形制研究〉，《文物》，期2，北京，1984年，圖版5 雕，紋飾與本品相近，出自大維•威爾收藏，售於巴黎蘇
，編號8，作者論述，此類劍見於熱河山區及燕北區域， 富比2015年12月16日，編號47；再比一例，劍柄飾交龍
受西周至春秋時期中原劍式影響。 紋，帶銀劍鞘，鞘上紋飾相近，曾屬不言堂收藏，錄林巳
奈夫及樋口隆康，《不言堂坂本五郎：中国青銅器清賞》
比較一例，無劍鞘，出自J.W. Alsdorf收藏，曾展於《Arts
，東京，2002年，圖版15。
of the Chou Dynasty》，史丹福大學博物館，史丹福，

180 JUNKUNC: ARTS OF ANCIENT CHINA II