Halberd head

1046

256

14.0

0.3

25.2

HKU.B.1953.0018

This plain halberd head is decorated with crude patterns— simple and smooth lines at the pointed end which suggests that it might be mould-made instead of handcrafted. Holes are pierced on its body for attachment to wood or bamboo handles. Despite lacking in decoration, the surface is glazed with metal, probably tin, which was popularly used in Eastern Zhou bronze weapon production. Compared to those heavily decorated objects in the Shang dynasty, bronze products in the Zhou dynasty are mostly austere with simplistic designs which reveal a change in fashion trend and a shift in common idea to “less is more” (in Chinese pusu). Abundant bronze weapons in multiple sizes and shapes, including this kind of halberd head, were commonly excavated together with kilns in production sites located at Qishan, Shaanxi (formerly known as Zhouyuan), and Xian, Shaanxi (formerly named Fenghao) which revealed the mass production scale and maturation of the bronze industry in the Zhou dynasty. Over 180 pieces of bronze objects, including vessels and weapons like this, were also uncovered in a tomb at Sanmenxia, Henan. Accompanying the dead underground, bronze weapons served as protection in the afterlife and gave ancient Chinese a sense of security.