Lot 40. A green jade dagger with gilt-bronze 'phoenix' hilt, Han dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD); jade 20.9 cm, 8 ¼ in.; overall 28.5 cm, 11 ¼ in. Estimate: 500,000 - 700,000 HKD. Unsold. Courtesy Sotheby's.

the dagger worked from a translucent green stone and rendered with fine grooves and ridges on both sides, framed by a crisp outline, below a gilt-bronze pommel skilfully cast to depict a ferocious bird with a stylised elongated body terminating in an incurved tail.

Provenance: J.J. Lally & Co., New York, 1999.

Note: This fine green jade blade, decorated with subtle ridges, is complemented by a gilt-bronze ring pommel, which is remarkable for the dynamic representation of the graceful, yet ferocious bird. A closely related gilt-bronze sword hilt with a ring pommel, modelled in the form of a coiled dragon biting its own tail, is in the collection of the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., no. F1916.484a-b (fig. 1).

Sword hilt with ring pommel in the form of a dragon, Han dynasty, 206 BCE-220 CE. Bronze with gilding and gold inlay. H x W: 11.3 x 6.7 cm (4 7/16 x 2 5/8 in). Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1916.484a-b, Freer Gallery of Art. © 2020 Smithsonian Institution