Lot 17

[COLLECTION OF PATRICK DAVID BIRDS] CHINESE BRONZE LONG SWORD WITH THE RARE ACCOMPANYING ORIGINAL LACQUER WOODEN SWORD BOX WITH COVER
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EASTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, WARRING STATES PERIOD

Fine Asian Works of Art

Auction: 06 November 2026 from 10:00 GMT

Estimate: £4,000 - £6,000

Description

東周戰國青銅長劍帶稀有原始漆木盒

the sword with long, tapering blade with bevelled edges and a distinct median ridge, diamond-shaped guard, the hilt with two circular flanges, and the circular, dished pommel, the bronze has extensive malachite-green encrustation, with remnant of silk wrap fibres on the end of the hilt, together with its original lacquered wooden sword box and cover

Dimensions

sword: 55cm long; 969.6g; box: 60cm long; 795.1g

Provenance

From the Collection of Patrick David Bird Surrey British Columbia, Canada.

Patrick David Bird was born in Vancouver in 1960 and completed a BA in History at the University of British Columbia. He served in the Canadian Militia for five years which further fueled a life-long interest in military culture & history and collecting antique arms and armour.

Mr. Bird has always been fascinated by cross cultural studies embracing both Asia Pacific & Western perspectives. Business development initiatives enabled him to travel extensively throughout Asia during the late 1980s through to the late 1990s. During this period, he was fortunate to add artifacts to his collection, develop a deeper understanding of the development of weapons, and at various times, further his training in Buddhism and sword practice.

Mr. Bird was a member of the board of directors of the Vancouver Police Museum from 2001 to 2011 and, during that time, served 5 years as President. He remains steadfast in his passion for history and collecting antique arms and has been serving as President of the Historical Arms Collectors Society of British Columbia (HACSBC) Canada since 2023.

帕特里克·大衛·伯德，薩里，不列顛哥倫比亞省，加拿大。

帕特里克·大衛·伯德於1960年出生於溫哥華，並在不列顛哥倫比亞大學完成了歷史學文學學士學位。他曾在加拿大民兵服役五年，這進一步激發了他對軍事文化與歷史以及收藏古董武器和盔甲的終身興趣。

伯德先生一直著迷於跨文化研究，涵蓋亞太與西方的視角。商業發展計劃使他能夠在1980年代末至1990年代末期間廣泛遊歷亞洲。在此期間，他幸運地為自己的收藏增添了文物，對武器的發展有了更深入的理解，並在不同時期進一步修習佛教和劍術。

伯德先生於2001年至2011年間擔任溫哥華警察博物館董事會成員，並在此期間擔任了五年的主席。他對歷史和收藏古董武器的熱情始終堅定不移，並自2023年起擔任加拿大不列顛哥倫比亞省歷史武器收藏家協會（HACSBC）的主席。

Footnote

Collector's note about the conservation of this lot: “a museum specialist was retained by the collector to assess options provide the conservations services. Over a period of one year the wooden sword box and lid were immersed in a PEG (polyethylene glycol) solution with the PEG molecules gradually replacing the water molecules in the artifact. Years later the sword box and lid remain stable.”

It is extremely rare to have original container together with the archaistic bronze sword. Compare to a parcel-gilt bronze sword together with its black lacquer scabbard, dated to the Han dynasty, was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 25 November 2022, lot 861. See a Zhou Dynasty bronze sword of similar form and slightly smaller in size (45.7cm long), is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Object Number: 24.172.2. Another finely cast bronze sword (51cm long) dated to Warring States period, was sold at Christie's New York,
18 Mar 2021, lot 605.

藏家關於此拍品保存的說明："一位博物館專家受藏家聘用評估各種方案並提供保存服務。在一年的時間裡，木製劍盒及盒蓋被浸泡在PEG（聚乙二醇）溶液中，PEG分子逐漸取代了文物中的水分子。多年後，劍盒及盒蓋依然保持穩定。"

仿古青銅劍帶有原裝容器極為罕見。參考一件漢代帶黑漆劍鞘的局部鎏金青銅劍，2022年11月25日在香港蘇富比拍賣，拍品861。一件形制相似但尺寸略小（長45.7公分）的周代青銅劍，現藏於紐約大都會藝術博物館，藏品編號：24.172.2。另一件鑄造精緻的青銅劍（長51公分），定年戰國時期，2021年3月18日在紐約佳士得拍賣，拍品605。

This lot has been imported from outside of the UK and placed under Temporary Admission. An amount in lieu of Import VAT will be charged at 5% on the hammer price.

此拍品是從英國以外地區進口，憑藉暫准進口許可證（暫准進口）在拍賣會上出售，該許可證允許這些物品暫時全部或部分免征關稅（增值稅和關稅），代替進口增值稅的金額將按落槌價的5%收取，請参閱業務規定之增值稅符號和說明部分以獲取更多資訊。