Lot 425. A rare archaic beige jade sword guard, Western Han Dynasty; 5cm (2in) long. Sold for £ 7,012 (€ 8,144). © Bonhams.

Of lozenge section, carved on both sides with stylised taotie masks, a small section of the iron blade remaining, the stone of warm amber-honey tone.

Provenance: J.T. Tai & Co., New York, 1964
Dr Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987), acc.no.J842, acquired from the above in 1964
Christie's New York, 16 September 2010, lot 972 (part lot)

Published, Illustrated and Exhibited: Roger Keverne Ltd., Summer Exhibition, London, 2011, no.77.

Note: See a very similar jade sword guard, Han dynasty, illustrated by J.C.S.Lin, The Immortal Stone: Chinese Jades from the Neolithic period to the twentieth century, Cambridge, 2009, p.45, no.32.