A BRONZE DAGGER
Northern Chna – Inner Mongolia, 6th–5th century BC.

The dagger with a hilt pierced at both ends, the handle furrowed in relief by dense geometric motifs, the antennas modeled as two animal heads, perhaps birds, facing each other.

20,6 cm lenght

Provenance : Fabrizio Savi collection, acquired in the early 2000s.
Knives of this type have been found at the Maoqinggou site in Inner Mongolia. However, with variants, this kind of weapon was very popular throughout the northern area of China (L'arte per la vita nell'Aldilà. Capolavori di arte antica cinese dalla collezione Meidaozhai (3 voll.). Volume primo. Il Neolitico e l'Età del bronzo, edited by M. Pirazzoli-t' Serstevens, Turin 2002, pp. 165, 103, for a similar dagger in the MAO of Turin).