G048 One set of Jade Ornaments of Sword

G048 One set of Jade Ornaments of Sword (Sword with Jade Ornaments)

According to the the book of Huns in the Han Dynasty, "in the Han Dynasty, the King of Huns meet the Emperor of Han Dynasty, The emperor of Han gave him a jade sword ." What is jade sword? In Meng Kang's note, he said, "the mark, the head, Tan and Wei are all made of jade.".  This is a set of four jade sword ornaments. The other ancient names are: " Sword Promel (head)," Beng (Tan), "  "Zhi (Wei,Sword Scabbard Slide ) " and " Bi (Mark, Sword Guard) ". These four jade ornaments are inlaid on the sword, and the sword is called" jade sword ".

Head, Sword Promel: The jade ornament on the top of the hilt.                                                                      Beng：It is the jade ornament between the sword body and the hilt (also known as "sword lattice/ grid") .                                                                                                                                                                                    Zhi, Sword Scabbard Slide:It is a jade inlaid near the upper end of the scabbard.                                          Bì , Sword Guard: It is a jade ornament set at the end of a sword sheath.

The following four jade ornaments belong to the early period of the Western Han Dynasty, but they are all different in color and quality, so (1) they may be used by predecessors; (2) they are really the same jade with sword, but it's still uncertain that they are a little strange and stand out.

(1) Sword Head: (Diameter: 5.35cm)                                                                                                                                              Hetian green jade, three cloud piercing baby dragons in shallow relief (from the Western Han Dynasty), the tail of the   second dragon is not in the sea of clouds, and the head of the first dragon is not in the clouds. However, the shape of S   has not yet reached the level as remarkable and beautiful as the later stage of Eastern Han Dynasty, so it should be an   early device of the Western Han Dynasty.            

Back center: there is a round hole for embedding the hilt, and there is an inclined hole on both sides for embedding  nails, so as to make it firm.

(2 ) Beng (Tan, sword grid) (Height: 3.00cm, Length: 5.23cm)                                                                                  One side: it's a high relief double dragon (it can be said that the high relief started in the Western Han Dynasty, which   was rarely found in the Warring States period), but the head of one of the vessels even connected to the tail of the   other, which is a bit of the unique style of the Warring States jade carving. On the other side of the back: it is a    

shallow relief "beast face pattern", both of which have the legacy of the Warring States period, so this sword grid   

should belong to the early Western Han Dynasty.

(3) zhi(Wei), Sword Scabbard Slide:  (Length: 9.08cm, Width: 2.03cm, Thickness: 1.83cm)                        Yellow jade. There are two high relief baby dragons passing through the clouds. One tail on the left is buried in the clouds, and the other one in the middle is also buried in the clouds. There is a bear on the right. The bear holds the head and enters one tail of the dragon in the clouds. The bear leg is carved to connect with the other tail of the Dragon (it seems strange to be a bit of the legacy of the Warring States). In the Han Dynasty, there is a pattern of bear tiger struggle, the bear of this pattern In the Warring States period, it seems that it is difficult to find patterns like this jade bear. From the above factors, we can infer that it should also be the early Western Han Dynasty.            

The lower part of the scabbard is carved with a rectangular hollow, which is inlaid in the upper part of the scabbard and can be worn.

(4) Bì , Sword Guard: (Height: 4.42cm, Thickness: 2.12cm, Upper end width: 4.28cm, Lower end width: 5.32cm)

It is a jade ornament inlaid at the end of the scabbard. The upper end of the scabbard is slightly narrow, and there is a round hole in the middle of its upper plane for embedding into the tail of the scabbard. There is an inclined hole on both

sides for firmly inserting nails (the width is the same as that of the scabbard); the width of the bottom of the scabbard is large, so as to enhance the aesthetic feeling.            

One side: high relief dragon, dragon head at the top, extraordinary momentum, curled up beautiful shape!   On the other side: the beast face pattern of shallow relief and patterning (there is still the legacy of spring and Autumn period and Warring States period). The whole carving is exquisite!