Lot 816. A bronze knife, Northeast China, 8th-7th century BC. Estimate USD 2,000 - USD 3,000 © Christie's Images Ltd 2017.

The knife has an integrally cast curved blade and an openwork hilt formed by intertwining serpent bodies. A small oblong loop with projecting, flat D-shaped tab is at the end of the hilt. 9 ¾ in. (25 cm.) long

Provenance: The Erwin Harris Collection, Miami, Florida, by 1978.

Literature: The Art of the Oriental Bronze Metallurgist: China, Korea, Japan (1500-1911), Miami, Lowe Art Museum, 1978, no. 29.
J. F. So and E. C. Bunker, Traders and Raiders on China's Northern Frontier, Washington D.C., Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 1995, pp. 122-123, no. 40.
F. Salviati, “Archaeology on China’s Northern Frontier,” Minerva, July/August 1996, p. 24, fig. 4.

Christie's. The Harris Collection: Important Early Chinese Art, 16 March 2017, New York, Rockefeller Center