Lot 18

[COLLECTION OF PATRICK DAVID BIRDS] CHINESE SHORT BRONZE SWORD WITH COILED HUI-SNAKE
‡

EASTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, LATE SPRING AND AUTUMN PERIOD

Fine Asian Works of Art

Auction: 06 November 2026 from 10:00 GMT

Estimate: £5,000 - £7,000

Description

東周春秋晚期青銅鏤空蟠虺紋短劍帶後配木盒

the sword with median ridge, originally with double guard (one missing) and a flat grip which embellished with an openwork coiled hui-snake, the bronze has extensive malachite-green encrustation, together with a later wooden box

Dimensions

9.2cm wide; 232.2g

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

See two closely comparable short bronze swords with similar openwork hui-snake ornate grip: one dated to 6th–5th century BCE (corresponding to the late Spring and Autumn period) is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, object number: 2003.193; the other also dated to the late Spring and Autumn period was published in Shang and Zhou Chinese Bronze Weaponry: C.H. Wang Collection. by Zhenhua Wang, Taibei: Gu yue ge, 1993. no. 57, p. 190.

參考兩件極為相似的青銅短劍，均帶有相似的鏤空虺蛇紋裝飾劍柄：一件定年為公元前6至5世紀（相當於春秋晚期），現藏於紐約大都會藝術博物館，藏品編號：2003.193；另一件同樣定年為春秋晚期，曾發表於王振華著《商周青銅兵器：王振華收藏》，台北：古越閣，1993年，圖錄57, 頁190。

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。