Chinese (or other country) sai/parrying weapon

[Neil]

Here are a couple examples pictured below that I know were collected in northern China.

It was mentioned before that this style of antique mace is "quite rare". I do not necessarily agree with that statement. I have seen a couple dozen examples in the past several years that are very similar or of some variant that I strongly believe were Chinese due to either their association with other weapons in the same collection or where they were being sold from. I have also seen photo evidence of Qing era Chinese prison guards using these weapons. As far as nailing down a consistent form goes, that would be difficult. Its been my experience that variation is the rule rather than the exception when it come to Chinese "cold" weapons. I do appreciate estcrh's desire for proof though. I hope the two mace that I posted will be of interest. I also like the comments Timo made about the flow of iron goods between countries.