11th Sep, 2025 11:00
The Collection of Sam and Myrna Myers Part 1
190
A RARE BRONZE ‘COURTIER’ AXE-HEAD, WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY
This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve
Sold for €3,900
including Buyer's Premium
China, 1066-771 BC. Heavily cast, the axe-head with a fan-shaped blade, cast in shallow relief with archaistic motifs below raised studs on either side, the shaft ring of lenticular section extending to the head of a nobleman wearing a tall guan (cap), his face cast with a broad nose and deep-set eyes, flanked by projecting ears.
Provenance: The Collection of Sam and Myrna Myers, Paris, France. Acquired between circa 1965-2012.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, casting irregularities, signs of weathering and erosion, rubbing, and corrosion. The bronze with a naturally grown patina with extensive malachite and cuprite encrustations.
Weight: 686.8 g
Dimensions: Height 22.7 cm
The evolution of guan headwear, as glimpsed through bronze figural fittings like this striking example, traces a gradual formalization of elite identity from the late Shang into the Western Zhou dynasty. In the Shang period, head coverings were relatively unstandardized, but already symbolically potent, often constructed of perishable materials and reserved for ritual or martial contexts. By the Western Zhou, the guan had developed into a codified signifier of rank and lineage, worn by aristocrats during court ceremonies and enshrined in funerary art.
Socketed axes were made in Northeast China between the 11th-8th century BC. They were a continuation of a type first made in West Asia, which was introduced into the periphery of China during the 2nd millennium BC.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related bronze chariot ornament with a similar courtier wearing an early type of guan, dated to the Western Zhou dynasty, c. 9th century BC, in the Luoyang City Museum, Henan. Compare a related bronze axehead, late Shang Dynasty, excavated from the Tomb of Fu Hao.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 18 March 2021, lot 601
Price: USD 30,000 or approx. EUR 31,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An unusual small bronze human mask-form harness ornament, late Shang-early Western Zhou dynasty, 11th century BC
Expert remark: Compare the similar facial features with a broad nose, deep-set eyes, and projecting ears. Note the size (3.5 cm).
China, 1066-771 BC. Heavily cast, the axe-head with a fan-shaped blade, cast in shallow relief with archaistic motifs below raised studs on either side, the shaft ring of lenticular section extending to the head of a nobleman wearing a tall guan (cap), his face cast with a broad nose and deep-set eyes, flanked by projecting ears.
Provenance: The Collection of Sam and Myrna Myers, Paris, France. Acquired between circa 1965-2012.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, casting irregularities, signs of weathering and erosion, rubbing, and corrosion. The bronze with a naturally grown patina with extensive malachite and cuprite encrustations.
Weight: 686.8 g
Dimensions: Height 22.7 cm
The evolution of guan headwear, as glimpsed through bronze figural fittings like this striking example, traces a gradual formalization of elite identity from the late Shang into the Western Zhou dynasty. In the Shang period, head coverings were relatively unstandardized, but already symbolically potent, often constructed of perishable materials and reserved for ritual or martial contexts. By the Western Zhou, the guan had developed into a codified signifier of rank and lineage, worn by aristocrats during court ceremonies and enshrined in funerary art.
Socketed axes were made in Northeast China between the 11th-8th century BC. They were a continuation of a type first made in West Asia, which was introduced into the periphery of China during the 2nd millennium BC.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related bronze chariot ornament with a similar courtier wearing an early type of guan, dated to the Western Zhou dynasty, c. 9th century BC, in the Luoyang City Museum, Henan. Compare a related bronze axehead, late Shang Dynasty, excavated from the Tomb of Fu Hao.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 18 March 2021, lot 601
Price: USD 30,000 or approx. EUR 31,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An unusual small bronze human mask-form harness ornament, late Shang-early Western Zhou dynasty, 11th century BC
Expert remark: Compare the similar facial features with a broad nose, deep-set eyes, and projecting ears. Note the size (3.5 cm).
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