Page 54 - March 16, 2017 Chinese Art, The Harris Collection, Christies

847
A VERY RARE GILT-BRONZE FELINE-FORM ORNAMENT
NORTH CHINA, 1ST-2ND CENTURY AD
The fnely cast feline is shown gracefully prowling with head turned to the side and right
fore-paw raised, the end of the tail hidden behind the right rear paw. Two pins project
from the almost fat reverse.
4¿ in. (10.5 cm.) long, box

$15,000-25,000

PROVENANCE

Private collection, France, before 1945.
The Erwin Harris Collection, Miami, Florida, before 1969.

LITERATURE

J. F. So and E. C. Bunker, Traders and Raiders on China’s Northern Frontier, Washington
D.C., Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 1995, pp. 155-56, no. 77, and cover.
The animated pose of this prowling feline ornament can be seen in a bronze belt hook
depicting a prowling feline, of similar date, illustrated by J. F. So and E. C. Bunker,
Traders and Raiders on China’s Northern Frontier, 1995, p. 155, no. 76. A dragon that
forms another bronze belt hook, of Western Han date, that also exhibits the same
graceful, yet powerful, pose seen in the present ornament, is illustrated in Ancient
Chinese Arts in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1989, pl. 231. The placement of the rear
two legs and feet, and the manner in which the tail curves downward are very similar
between the two.

公元一至二世紀 中國北方 鎏金銅獸形飾件

The present lot featured on the cover of Traders and
Raiders on China’s Northern Frontier, published by the
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington D.C., in association with the University
of Washington Press, Seattle and London, on the
occasion of an exhibition at the Arthur M. Sackler
Gallery, 19 November 1995 - 2 September 1996.

52 THE HARRIS COLLECTION:
IMPORTANT EARLY CHINESE ART