Pole axe with supernatural figure

1. (Undated folder sheet note) Purchased from Ton-Ying & Co., New York. For price, see <u>Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920<e>.

2. (J.E.L., 1935) The group of 12 weapons 34.3-34.14, of which this is one, was bought as a collection, and with it came the accompanying statement in Chinese which may be translated as follows:

"Twelve bronze weapons of the Chou dynasty. In the 6th moon of the 20th year of  the Republic of China (1931), a native dug up in Wei-hui Prefecture, Ho-nan Province, not far from An-yang District, a group of ancient weapons, namely: 6 halberds (<u>ko<e> [chn]), 1 lance (<u>mou<e> [chn]), 2 hatchets (<u>fu<e> [chn]) and 3 knives (<u>tao<e> [chn]). On one of the knives are the two characters K'ang Hou [chn] (Prince of K'ang). K'ang-shu was a younger brother of King Ch'eng of Chou, and his appanage included what are now An-yang district and Wei-hui Prefecture. These twelve weapons are undoubtedly relics of the Chou Prince of K'ang. Among them is a Ch'ih-yu knife, a circular knife, an ox-head halberd and a halberd inlaid with shell. Antiquities so remarkable in form and make have not been seen hitherto. By students of the manners and customs of ancient Chou, they must be regarded as great treasures. Recorded by Ch'u Te-i. The 11th day of the 10th month of the 20th year of the Republic of China (1931)."

Ch'u Te-i is said to have been associated in some capacity with the famous collections gathered and published by the late [chn] Tuan Fang. In any case, his record of these weapons is at present our only available information as to where and when they were found, and there is no apparent reason to doubt its essential accuracy. Just how Ch'u groups the weapons as <u>ko, mou<e> and <u>fu<e> is not clear in every case; but those he describes as "a Ch'ih-yu knife" (34.3), "a circular knife" (34.4), “an ox-head halberd" (34.7), "a halberd inlaid with shell" (34.8) are all easily identifiable.

In form, number 34.3 may be, no doubt, properly classified as a <u>tao<e> (<u>cf<e>. also 34.6); but it seems likely that the wavy edge and the loop handle on the back are not typical. So far, however, relatively few of these weapons have been found, and only this one and 34.6 have been published (Carter, Dagny: <u>China Magnificent<e>, p. 19; Huang Chun: <u>Tsun ku chai so chien chi chin t'u<e>, Vol. IV, pp. 41-42). It is necessary, therefore, to derive any general idea of the type from representations of it which appear as pictographs in ancient inscriptions. Thus, for example, [chn] Lo Chen-yu, in his [chn] <u>Yin wen ts'un<e>, I, 14 <u>v<e>., 35 <u>v<e>, and II, 8 <u>v<e>, 29 reproduces bronze inscriptions giving the forms 1, 2, 3, ; [chn] Hsu T'ung-po in his [chn] <u>Ts'ung ku t'ang k'uan shih hsueh<e>, III, 23 reproduces 4;

[In original folder, there are two pages of sepatate note]

3. (E.H. West, 1963) This blade was analyzed by Spectrographic and wet methods.

4. (H.C. Lovell, 1970) For information on Ch'u Te-i, see folder sheet for 39.3, "Ladies Playing Double Sixes," painting in the style of Chou Fang.

5. (J. Smith per Keith Wilson, 8/12/2008) Weapon and Armament added as secondary classification.

6. (YinYing Chen per Keith Wilson, February 23, 2023)
Change title from "Blade (tao?)" to "Pole axe with supernatural figure."
Change object name from "Blade" to "Weapon."
Change period from "Shang or Western Zhou dynasty" to "Early Western Zhou period."
Change date from "11th century BCE" to "ca. 1050–975 BCE."
Change georgrphy from "China" to "China, Henan province, purportedly from Xunxian."