Page 63 - Sotheby's Important Chinese Art, Sept. 21-22, 2-21, NYC

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AN ARCHAIC BRONZE WINE VESSEL AND their Bronzes, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 2018, cat. A PAIR OF ARCHAIC BRONZE WATER BASINS upper border of the band and its sinuous body descending
COVER (HE) no. 101. Another, with composite human-bird-form legs and (JIAN) and forming a hook within the unit, its mate taking the
EASTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, WARRING STATES a solid handle cast in intricate high relief imitating openwork, EASTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, LATE 6TH - EARLY opposite form from the lower border of the band, and the
from the Jingguantang Collection, sold at Christie’s Hong
bodies of the two interlacing within the unit. The bodies of
PERIOD Kong 3rd November 1996, lot 597. More recently, a he of the 5TH CENTURY BC the dragons are patterned with modified leiwen spirals.
the globular body supported on three cabriole bird-shaped present type, but with bird-and-human legs, a solid handle, each with deep rounded sides set over a low foot, the Other bronze vessels belonging to this group and bearing
feet, each bird’s head modeled in the round, the wings and bands of copper inlay, sold at Christie’s New York, 24th sides cast with two registers of dragon motifs, the upper interlocking dragon bands of the same design include a jian
spread against the vessel’s lower body, the body cast September 2020, lot 1510. Related he of the period, but register comprised of units of two interlocking serpentine from the Lucy Maud Buckingham Collection and now in the
with three low-relief registers each divided by recessed with slightly simpler decoration and supported on cabriole dragons, the lower register with units of single serpentine collection of the Art Institute of Chicago (coll. no. 1930.704),
bands, the lowest register with repeating pairs of felines legs, include one excavated in Chengdu, Sichuan province dragons with their bodies coiled in alternating directions, the published in Charles Fabens Kelley and Ch’en Meng-Chia,
each intertwined with a serpent against a stippled ground bearing an inscription dedicated to Marquis Chun Cheng, widest part of the basin set with a pair of taotie masks each Chinese Bronzes from the Buckingham Collection, Chicago,
and bordered by bands of triangular spirals, the middle and published in Chen Peifen, Xia Shang Zhou qingtongqi suspending a loose ring handle, the slightly recessed neck 1946, pl. LI. A number of ding and covers bearing this
register with pairs of confronting mythical beasts each with yanjiu: Dong Zhou pian, xia [Study of bronzes of the Xia, cast with scroll-like interlocking serpentine dragons beneath distinctive band design also survive, include one formerly in
bird-like heads, sinuous bodies, and clawed feet against Shang, and Zhou periods: Eastern Zhou, vol. 2], Shanghai, the flat rim (2) the collections of David David-Weill and Arthur M. Sackler
a spiral ground, the top register with pairs of confronting 2004, pl. 628; one with inlaid copper details from the Arthur Diameter 14 in., 35.6 cm and published in Jenny So, Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes
deer against a spiral ground, the shoulder set with a bird- M. Sackler Collection and now in the National Museum of from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. III, New York,
form spout with a hinged upper beak to allow for pouring, Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (acc. PROVENANCE 1995, no. 16; one excavated from Tomb 251, Jinshengcun,
all surmounted by an arched openwork feline-form handle no. S1987.315a-b), published in Jenny F. So, Eastern Zhou Jingguantang Collection. Taiyuan, Shanxi province (ibid., fig. 16.1); one in the National
connected to the stepped circular cover by an integral chain, Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. III, Christie’s New York, 18th September 1997, lot 120. Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington,
the patina dark gray with areas of malachite and reddish New York, 1995, pl. 84; one sold first in our London rooms, D.C. (acc. no. F1947.20a-b); and another in the Shanghai
oxidation 17th November 1999, lot 703, and later in these rooms, 21st EXHIBITED Museum, Shanghai, exhibited in Treasures from the Shanghai
Length 10½ in., 26.7 cm September 2006, lot 153; and one sold in these rooms, 31st Min Chiu Society Thirtieth Anniversary Exhibition. Selected Museum: 6000 Years of Chinese Art, Asian Art Museum,
March - 1st April 2005, lot 154A. Treasures of Chinese Art, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong San Francisco, 1983, cat. no. 42. See also a dun and cover
PROVENANCE Kong, 1990, cat. no. 183. formerly in the Madame L. Wannieck Collection and now in
Acquired in Hong Kong, 1996. $ 40,000-60,000 Art Treasures from Shanghai and Hong Kong, The University the National Museum of Asian Art, Washington, D.C. (acc.
of Hong Kong Art Gallery, Hong Kong, 1996, cat. nos 7 and 8. no. F1932.13a-b).
LITERATURE 東周 戰國 青銅獸紋盉 The present pair of jian belong to a group of vessels
Richard A. Pegg and Zhang Lidong, The MacLean Collection: produced around the end of the Spring and Autumn period $ 80,000-120,000
Chinese Ritual Bronzes, Chicago, 2010, pl. 48. 來源： at Liyu, Shanxi province. The group first became known
The present he has a notably complex design involving 購於香港，1996年 through a 1923 excavation from which twenty-eight vessels 東周 公元前六世紀末至五世紀初 青銅交
sculptural bird-form legs and spout, an openwork feline-form 出版： were published in Umehara Sueji, Sengoku-shiki doki no 龍紋鋪首耳鑒一對
handle, and three decorative bands each featuring different kenkyu [Research on Warring States bronzes], Kyoto, 1936.
animals. A very similar he, with slight variations to the details 彭銳查及張立東，《The MacLean Collection: Chinese The characteristics of the ‘Liyu’ style were later closely 來源：
and including a monkey-form knop on the cover, in the Ritual Bronzes》，芝加哥，2010年，圖版48 analyzed by George W. Weber in The Ornaments of Late 靜觀堂收藏
collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, was exhibited and Chou Bronzes: A Method of Analysis, New Brunswick, 1973,
published in Mirroring China’s Past: Emperors, Scholars, and pp 369-538, 557-562. In his typology of Liyu bronzes, 紐約佳士得1997年9月18日，編號120
Weber identified the interlocking dragon band found on the 展覽：
present jian as a defining characteristic of Group E vessels 《歷代文物萃珍：敏求精舍三十週年紀念展》，香港
with zoomorphic motifs, and noted that Group E vessels are
among the most typical of Liyu production around the first 藝術館，香港，1990年，編號183
quarter of the 5th century BC (ibid., pp 369-375). The band 《滬港藏珍》，香港大學美術館，香港，1996年，
can be recognized by its repeating units of two intertwined 編號7及8
serpentine dragons, one with the bifurcated tail forming the

58 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N10748 IMPORTANT ARCHAIC BRONZES FROM THE MACLEAN COLLECTION 59