Object: Socketed dagger-axe (ge) with feline F1934.5

Classification: Weapon and Armament

Historical period(s): Early Western Zhou dynasty, Zhou dynasty, ca. 1050-975 BCE

Object Date: ca. 1050-975 BCE

Medium: Bronze

Dimension(s): H x W x D: 19.1 × 19 × 4.1 cm (7 1/2 × 7 1/2 × 1 5/8 in)

Origin: China, Henan province, purportedly from Xunxian

Notes: purportedly from Xunxian

Credit Line: Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Accession Number: F1934.5

Description: Blade of the type ko [chn]. Socketed and pierced for hafting. Relief casting on socket. Patinated with malachite and some azurite; some areas of unaltered metal.

Past label text: 1. (Keith Wilson, Anyang: China's Ancient City of Kings, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, February 25, 2023 to April 28, 2024)

Pole axe with supernatural figure
Early Western Zhou period, ca. 1050–975 BCE
Bronze
Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment F1934.3a–c

Dagger-axe with snake
Early Western Zhou period, ca. 1050–975 BCE
Bronze
Gift of Charles Lang Freer F1916.28

Dagger-axe with feline
Early Western Zhou period, ca. 1050–975 BCE
Bronze
Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment F1934.5

Horse frontlet
Early Western Zhou period, ca. 1050–975 BCE
Bronze
Gift of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation S2006.3

The Conquerors
Zhou bronze casters experimented with new forms of weaponry while improving the effectiveness of inherited classics like the dagger-axe. Strengthening the attachment of bronze blades to their wooden handles seems to have been most important for Zhou warriors, and the pieces here show how sockets, blade extensions, and mounting spines served that purpose. The efficacy of the weapons in war may also have been symbolically enhanced with the addition of new motifs, including felines and confrontations involving humans and snakes—reminiscent of patterns seen elsewhere in this gallery. The magnificent horse frontlet illustrates the Zhou embrace of horses and chariots, another inheritance from Anyang.

Curatorial Remarks

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

2. (J.A.P., 1944) One of a group of twelve weapons said to have been found at Hsun Hsien, Wei-hui Fu, Honan Province. (cf<e>. 34.3)

The blade is roughly triangular in shape with a rounded point. Along the back edge is a thin flange to be set into a grooved haft; three vertical holes are provided to receive thongs for strengthening this joint. Above this is a socket, ovoid in section to hold firm the top of the haft. The socket is cast in the form of a feline head with ears, eyes and gaping jaws with four fangs of which the upper set close inside the lower (cf<e>. 34.3) Inside the fangs is a hole by which a pin could be driven through the top of the haft. The curious face of this animal has the ears and eyes in a normal horizontal position while the jaws open directly below them, and the nostrils have a proper relationship to the mouth but not to the eyes and ears. On the back of the blade, near the lower jaw of the beast, a flat circular depression 11/16 in. in diameter x 1/32 in. deep appears on either side. This may originally have held an inlay of some sort, either paste or a disc of semi-precious material like mother-of-pearl (cf<e>. 34.8).

If this blade is not unique in form, it is certainly rare as no published examples resemble it in detail. Though not tanged to piece the haft, it might be considered as a type of ko<e> [chn] in which the curve between the yuan<e> [chn] and the hu<e> [chn] has not been fully formed.

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

4. (J. Smith per Keith Wilson, 3/2009) Western Zhou dynasty; 1050-771 B.C.E.

5. (J. Smith per Keith Wilson, 3/2009) Socketed dagger axe (ge) with mask; Western Zhou dynasty; Purportedly from Xun xian, Henan Province.
6. (YinYing Chen per Keith Wilson, February 23, 2023)
Change title from "Socketed dagger-axe (ge) with mask" to "Socketed dagger-axe (ge) with feline."
Change period from "Western Zhou dynasty" to "Early Western Zhou period."
Change date from "ca. 1050-771 BCE" to "ca. 1050–975 BCE."
7. (Jeffrey Smith per Keith Wilson, August 2, 2023) Period One added as "Zhou dynasty" and Period Two edited as "Early Western Zhou dynasty" for parity with the assigned keyword.

Published References: Published References are currently unavailable.

SI Usage Statement

Usage conditions apply

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections..

Save this image | Request Permission | Terms of use

Socketed dagger-axe (ge) with feline

Related Objects

Web Resources