Page 203 - Sotheby's Important Chinese Art, Sept. 21-22, 2-21, NYC

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A MINIATURE ARCHAISTIC PARCEL-GILT A GILT-BRONZE ‘MYTHICAL BEAST’ WEIGHT renewed interest in bronze wares for the scholar’s desk,
BRONZE TRIPOD CENSER AND COVER MING DYNASTY including bronze animal-form weights such as the present
SONG - MING DYNASTY finely cast, the beast recumbent with head turned slightly lot. For a Xuande mark and period mythical beast-form
the rounded incurved sides supported on three cabriole feet to the left, the bulging eyes and broad nose above parted lip weight from the Xiaogushan Guan Studio Collection, see
Rochers de lettrés, Itinéraires de l’Art en Chine, Musée des
and set with a pair of pierced upright rectangular handles baring a row of teeth, the ribs indicated by a series of deep Arts Asiatiques Guimet, Paris, 2012, cat. no. 58. Compare
below a domed cover cast with three loop handles, entirely striations, tight coils of fur at the spine and terminating in a one example attributed to the Ming dynasty, sold in our
patinated black and applied with gilt dots and curved lines bushy tail swept to one side, each leg lined with a ridge of fur London rooms, 24th February 1970, lot 13, and another
(2) above the articulated paws sold at Christie’s New York, 22nd March 2018, lot 1019. Two
Diameter 1¾ in., 4.5 cm Length 2¾ in., 7 cm
weights, one cast as a scaly mythical beast and another of
PROVENANCE PROVENANCE leonine form, were included in the exhibition Arts from the
Scholar’s Studio, Fung Ping Shan Museum, Hong Kong, 1986,
J.J. Lally & Co., New York. Spink & Son Ltd., London, 20th August 1999. cat. nos 194 and 195.
This gilt-bronze weight in the form of a mythical beast
$ 3,000-5,000 is exceptional for its superb workmanship and highly The rigid spine and dramatic quality of the present piece
expressive nature. The animal is imposing and energetic, are characteristic of early Ming sculpture and recall the
stone sculpture lining the spirit road of the Ming Tombs near
宋至明 銅局部鎏金袖珍仿古三足蓋爐 with an alert expression, sharp overhanging teeth and finely Beijing, such as a qilin with similar pose and pronounced lips
cast features.
at the Valley of the Ming Tombs, Beijing, illustrated in Ann
來源： Animal-form weights have been used since antiquity, with Paludan, The Chinese Spirit Road, New Haven, 1991, pl. 220.
藍理捷，紐約 numerous examples surviving from the Han dynasty, and
they continued to be essential for scholars in subsequent $ 20,000-30,000
periods. The Guyu tu [Illustrated Compendium of Ancient
Jades] notes that Zhao Mengfu once bought an ancient 明 銅鎏金瑞獸形鎮
jade bixie for use as a paperweight, indicating that scholars
would sometimes appropriate favorite antiquities to serve 來源：
this utilitarian function. The Xuande period witnessed a
123 Spink & Son Ltd.，倫敦，1999年8月20日
124

A SMALL PARCEL-GILT-BRONZE CUP
MING DYNASTY, WANLI PERIOD, DATED
RENZI YEAR, CORRESPONDING TO 1612
the rounded sides resting on a straight foot and flaring at
the galleried rim, set with one ring handle, the exterior sides
cast in relief with a continuous scene of a meandering river,
at one side a gentleman on a boat taking a break from rowing
to gaze across the rippling water at a nearby rock and pine
tree, a small pavilion and willow on the banks at the other
side of the cup, the sky textured with a ring-punched pattern,
the base with a four character mark reading Wanli renzi
Width 3¼ in., 8.3 cm

PROVENANCE
Sydney L. Moss Ltd., London, 17th April 1997.
$ 6,000-8,000

明萬曆壬子年（1612年） 銅局部鎏金松下
高士圖小盃
《萬曆壬子》款

來源：
Sydney L. Moss Ltd.，倫敦，1997年4月17日

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198 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N10748 IMPORTANT CHINESE ART FROM THE COLLECTION OF BRUCE DAYTON AND RUTH STRICKER DAYTON 199