Page 131 - 2020 Nov 30 Christie's Hong Kong Important Chiense Works of Art

PROPERTY FROM AN ASIAN FAMILY COLLECTION
3077

A JADEITE ARCHAISTIC BIRD-FORM VASE It is uncommon to find carvings of this zun form, which originated
in Shang dynasty (12th-11th century BC) bronze wine vessels, being
AND COVER replicated in jadeite. The shape itself appears to be faithfully copied
in the raised flanges and the geometric carved design on the sides
The vase is carved in the form of a bird standing upright on clawed of the body. For two examples of this unusual model which appears
feet, its feathers decorated with archaistic spirals, the cover carved to be a fusion between an owl and an eagle, both cast in bronze, see
in the form of a bird’s head with a zoomorphic cockscomb. The R. Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections,
vol. 1, Washington D.C., 1987, p. 406, no. 72; and another bird-form
bottom of one foot is incised with the seal Qianlong, the other foot
vessel with a gold inlay inscription: 'The gentlemen commissioned
with the seal nianzhi. The stone ranges from pale greenish-white to
this bird for amusement', dated to the Eastern Zhou, circa 5th century
apple-green tones. BC, illustrated by W. Hung, Monumentality in Early Chinese Art and
11 in. (28 cm.) overall height, box Architecture, Stanford University Press, 1995, p. 73, fig. 1.77.
HK$400,000-600,000 US$52,000-78,000 A gemmological certificate from the Hong Kong Jade & Stone
Laboratory Limited confirms the present lot is natural green jadeite.
PROVENANCE
Sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 19-21 March 1990, lot 1002
⠣ἕͲ۶㲄ྌഭ
ϝᬝ
㲞ᳰ⼖༛ᬘ卿 ჺ ᝲ ᚚ卿ᐽ৅ ⽚

᫉଍⣌㲞ᳰℱ⒢㦶໸ԋᇵ᳭㉹卿㌴༰ἃ഍὞⓷ℱ㐏⩀⨿ǯ

3077 marks

129