81 - Pair of Chinese short swords Shuangjian in shagreen scabbard, probably late 19th to early 20th c.

Pair of Chinese short swords Shuangjian in shagreen scabbard, probably late 19th to early 20th c. Steel, non-ferrous metal, horn, shagreen and wood. Pair of Chinese short swords which together fill a single scabbard: each blade is worked flat on the inner side and with a central ridge on the outer side, so that the two blades placed together form a closed cross-section. The blades double-edged and straight, tapering towards the point and set with inlaid round non-ferrous metal dots. Dark horn grips with punched non-ferrous metal ferrules and flat, lobed and engraved pommel; the guards as lobed, engraved plates of non-ferrous metal. The shared scabbard with green-stained shagreen covering over a wooden core, with locket and middle bands of engraved non-ferrous metal with foliate decoration, the chape light-coloured. Condition commensurate with age, one grip with a larger chip at the base of the ferrule, the shagreen covering missing over large areas, wooden core partly exposed, dark repairs, the blades slightly stained. L. 37 cm, blade length 25.5 cm Double swords, in Chinese shuangjian, were carried in pairs in a shared scabbard and wielded with both hands. So that both blades fit into the same scabbard, each blade is worked halved in cross-section; placed together they appear as a single weapon. Inlaid metal dots are a common blade decoration on Chinese swords; the best-known pattern is the seven-stars decoration, in Chinese qi xing, after the constellation of the Plough, which was regarded as the seat of the deities of fate and was meant to give the blade protective power. The shagreen covering of the scabbard, the granular skin of ray or shark, was valued for its rough, non-slip surface and its durability.