‘GE’ DAGGER AXE BLADE

Description This axe-dagger blade corresponds to one of the oldest and rarest types of ge (axe-dagger or halberd), characterised by its symmetrical shape and the absence of holes to fix it to the handle. The narrow blade, not perfectly straight, is slightly thicker in the center and must have originally been sharpened on both sides; the tip is blunt. At the bottom it is connected to a thin handle protruding from both ends, which then continues into an almost rectangular tang. It was this double shoulder that allowed the wooden handle to be fixed perpendicular to the blade. The terminal part of the tang, which widens imperceptibly towards the bottom, is decorated with a very simplified depiction of a zoomorphic mask (taotie): it is a low rectangular sector where the mask was obtained with a few symmetrical raised strokes. The design appears identical on the other side of the object.