Dagger-axe (ge) with mask

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

This <u>ko<e> is of usual form with a single hole in the <u>hu<e>. At the back of the <u>yuan<e> is a dragon or monster head in low relief, and its curled ovine horns rise from the surface in such a way as to embrace the haft when it is fitted over the <u>nei<e>, thus giving additional support. Though not common, other examples of the kind are known. (See Yetts, The George Eumorfopoulos Collection, Vol. I, no. A.150; and Sun Hai-po, Hsun-hsien i ch'i, [chn], 24a-b.) The Eumorfopoulos <u>ko<e>, like this one, has an intaglio strip with a raised ridge down the center extending along the center of the <u>yuan<e> from the dragon's mouth and curving to a point following the general outline of the <u>yuan<e> itself. On the Hsun-hsien [chn] piece this element is very short and is described in the text as the beast's tongue sticking out. Yetts describes his piece as having a hole through the <u>nei<e> in such a position that a pin may pass inside the curve of the horns, through the haft, and out the other side. He states that this pin still remains. This arrangement does not apply to the present <u>ko<e>as there is no hole in the <u>nei<e>. The <u>yuan<e> has been broken off and repaired just in front of the dragon's snout, and is slightly bent near the middle. The repair is old, and the blade was undoubtedly bent before the metal was old and brittle.

3. (Undated folder sheet note) Repaired by Y. Kinoshita, February, 1934.

4. (H.C. Lovell, 1974) For similar piece in collection, see 16.28.

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

6. (J. Smith per Keith Wilson, 3/2009) Dagger axe (ge) with mask; Western Zhou dynasty; Purportedly from Xun xian, Henan Province.

7.  (S. Kitsoulis per Keith Wilson, 13 July 2010) Object name changed from "Dagger-axe (ge)" to "Weapon."