Catalogue entry no. 195 by Max Loehr:
195 Ceremonial Shafted Axe with Fragmentary Blade
Opaque bluish green stone with fine black veins and light brown markings. The shaft has a slender, slightly curved-back from whose sweep is accentuated at the top by a double-pronged, backward extension; below, a handle with an oblique guard and finial continues along the axis of the shaft. The cross-section of the shaft is rectangular. Of the blade, only a short fragment remains. Both its upper and forward edges are disfigured by fracture and regrinding, while the lower edge with its stepped base seems to have retained its original form. Apparently the blade was thin; whether it was pointed (like a ko) or broad-edged (like a yüeh) can no longer be determined.
The most remarkable feature of this unique ceremonial weapon is the sophisticated design of the prongs and spurs of the projection at the top, and an analogous spur below the blade. This object has been regarded erroneously as a sword, as a sabre, or as a knife; its shape flatly contradicts such classifications. Early Western Chou(?).