Cleveland Museum of Art

Axe

Date

1766–1045 BCE

Medium

bronze

Culture

China, Shang dynasty (c. 1600–c. 1046 BCE)

Department

Chinese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The head of an owl with large eyes and ears, sitting above the blade of a halberd-axe, may have deterred evil and harm from its carrier. Whether such an axe was used in ritual or warfare is not clear. A staff or pike would have attached to the blade via the socket below the owl's head.

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