Lot 1125. A rare turquoise-inlaid bronze and jade ge halberd blade, Late Shang dynasty, 13th-11th century BC; 8½ in. (21.6 cm.) long. Estimate USD 20,000 - USD 30,000. Price realised USD 99,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2013

The mottled greyish-green jade blade, which is now opaque, has beveled edges and a tiny hole. It issues from a bronze handle inlaid on each side with a turquoise-inlaid rectangular panel of a stylized taotie mask below the hafting bar. There is a hole in the plain nei, and another taotie mask inlaid at the end. There is blue-green encrustation and azurite encrustation on the blade.

Provenance: Yamanaka & Co., Inc., New York, 1943.
Raymond A. Bidwell (1876-1954) Collection.
The Springfield Museums, Springfield, Massachusetts, accessioned in 1962.

Literature: Collection of Chinese and Other Far Eastern Art, Yamanaka & Co., Inc., New York, 1943, no. 222.
The Raymond A. Bidwell Collection of Chinese Bronzes and Ceramics, Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Massachusetts, 1965, pp. 20-21.
R. Spelman, The Arts of China, C.W. Post Center, Greenvale, New York, 1977, p. 25, no. 16.

Exhibited: C.W. Post Center, Long Island University, Greenvale, New York, The Arts of China, 4 February - 27 March 1977, no. 16.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 21 - 22 March 2013