‘YUE’ TYPE AXE-HEAD WITH ZOOMORPHIC MASKS

Description The square blade of this yue axe head widens from the edge side, which is rounded and has blunt edges. The main decoration develops in a band parallel to the axe handle, on both faces of the blade. It is the abstract representation of two birds of prey facing each other, placed in profile, which overall create the impression of a zoomorphic mask: the raised pupils then become the eyes of a taotie. The tang is also square, and has a single circular hole in the center. At the end beyond this hole there still appear two engraved taotie masks, one on each face of the axe head, much simpler and more legible than those of the blade. As the terrifying appearance of this type of decoration indicates, such axes served to kill animals for sacrificial purposes.