An exceptional and rare gold and silver-inlaid bronze sword hilt, Late Eastern Zhou - early Western Han dynasty | 東周末至西漢初 銅錯金銀鏤空雲龍紋劍柄

Eskenazi Ltd, London, 1993.

埃斯卡納齊，倫敦，1993年

The imaginative design and superb quality of the present sword-hilt transform an archaic warfare instrument into a status symbol, signifying the wealth and power of the owner. The double-horned dragon with alert eyes ascends the hilt with its long tail and sharp claws wrapping around the framework. The gold and silver inlays highlight not only the muscularity but also the agility of the mythical beast, as if it could charge at any moment. The scrolling clouds, splendidly decorated, give the piece an ethereal quality and hint at the desire for immortality of even the most powerful class in ancient China.

This sword-hilt appears to be a unique work of art; no comparable example appears to be recorded. A related incense burner, decorated with gold-inlaid dragons in openwork beneath scrolling clouds, was excavated from the famous tomb of the Han dynasty Prince of Zhongshan, Liu Sheng; see Mancheng Han mu fajue baogao [Excavation report of the Han tombs at Mancheng], Beijing, 1980, no. 1:5182, vol. 1, figs 44-45, vol. 2, col. pl. IX and pl. XXX. A dagger with an elaborately reticulated bronze hilt was also unearthed from the same mausoleum, ibid., no. 1:5109, vol. 1, fig. 55.3, vol. 2, pl. XLIV-4, together with a gold-inlaid bronze animal mask ferrule with comparable motifs, no. 1:5073, vol. 1, figs 74.1-2, vol. 2, col. pl. XII.2, and pl. LXIX.2.

See also similarly decorated objects in museum collections: a gold-inlaid sword-hilt with an openwork pommel in the form of a coiling dragon attributed to the Han dynasty in the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., accession no. F1916.484a-b; and a Western Zhou dynasty bronze ornament modelled as an openwork dragon guarding the frame in the form of a scabbard in the collection of Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, accession no. 1943.52.41.

祥龍頭頂雙角，銳目含威，身軀曲彎有勁，以利爪握框攀柄而上。藝匠結合鏤空與錯金銀工藝，以創思巧技，昇華兵戎之器，炫耀物主富榮與權力。金銀細線，彰顯龍身矯健與敏捷，彷彿下一瞬便會奪門而出。環飾金銀卷雲，仙氣滿溢，暗蘊祥瑞，揭示古人對永生的渴求，即便是權傾天下，也不無例外。

此劍柄巧思妙造，未有類例見載，疑為孤品。參考漢代中山靖王劉勝墓出土博山爐，其座飾鏤空錯金龍紋，上方且有祥雲，見《滿城漢墓發掘報告》，北京，1980年，編號1:5182，卷1，圖44-45，卷2，彩圖版9及圖版30。該陵尚有匕首，其銅柄鏤空，出處同上，編號1:5109，卷1，圖55.3，卷2，圖版XLIV-4，還有錯金銅獸首鏄，同飾相類雲紋，編號1:5073，卷1，圖74.1-2，卷2，彩圖版XII.2及圖版LXIX.2。

另可參考博物館藏裝飾工藝相若之器，如華盛頓史密森學會弗利爾美術館之漢錯金劍柄，首部作鏤空團龍，編號F1916.484a-b；或哈佛賽克勒藝術博物館藏西周銅鏤空鞘飾，飾曲卷祥龍，盤坐鞘框上，編號1943.52.41。