Catalogue entry no. 81 by Max Loehr:
81 Jade Dagger-Axe in a Bronze Haft with Curved Butt
Slight, crested, and hollow-ground blade of clouded olive green jade with out-curving longitudinal bevels and a sharp point. The blade is fitted into a bronze socket of unusual shape, with prongs designed to accommodate the blade, which itself is tanged. The socket is decorated with a turquoise inlaid t’ao-t’ieh mask in a raised, rectangular field. The bronze haft has the usual vertical bar and perforated hafting section; its curved butt is shaped as a bird figure with a monstrously large beak and two small crests above the eye—a motif familiar from bronze ko. On the right side of the dagger-axe, a large part of the inlay has disappeared under a heavy crust of bronze oxide, especially at the socket, where the ornament is invisible. Shang.
