Page 104 - Bonhams Chinese Works of Art December 2014

2338 PROPERTY FROM A CALIFORNIA COLLECTOR
AN ARCHAISTIC BRONZE VASE WITH APPLIED SILVER ACCENTS
Qing dynasty 2341
Of attenuated ovoid form with flared rim and foot, a pair of striding A CAST BRONZE HU-FORM VESSEL
dragon handles applied at mid-section across a horizontal taotie Ming dynasty
mask band in raised relief with silver linear accents set against the The low-slung belly cast with shaped oval panels in the Western
leiwen ground and the leaf shaped reserves above and below similarly Zhou style enclosed with key-fret borders and accented by diamond-
accented in silver (extensive wear and oxidation to applied silver). shaped bosses at each juncture below leaf-form panels set between
14 5/8in (37cm) high lobed sections cast with raised disintegrated C-commas projecting
$1,000 - 1,500 downward from a double banded neck rendered with abstract taotie
masks under a plain banded lip, the double band accented with
2339W applied circular handles suspending single rings.
A CAST BRONZE TRIPOD CENSER AND COVER 12in (30.5cm) high
18th century $1,200 - 2,000
The censer cast with a wide rim flange of hexafoil shape above a
shallow cylindrical body with flat base raised on three short legs For hu-form vases with related decoration, see Robert Mowry, China’s
issuing from lion heads; the three-section cover composed of a Renaissance in Bronze: the Robert M. Clague Collection of Later
waisted finial topped with openwork peach branches, then two Chinese Bronzes 1100-1900, 1993, figure 6, dated to the 12th/14th
consecutive rings cast with composite flowers on leafy stems century; and Sotheby’s, Hong Kong, Later Chinese Bronzes from the
surrounding the Eight Buddhist Emblems. Collection of Ulrich Hausmann, 8 October 2014, lots 3320 and 3325.
26 1/4in (66.8cm) high
$4,000 - 6,000 2342
A CAST BRONZE LOBED VESSEL
Provenance Yuan/Ming dynasty
the collection of Ferdinand Ponthier (1939-2012) Raised on a high ring foot cast with a tight wave band under a low
set belly divided into five sections set off by blade-shaped reserves
Compare the pair of hexagonal sectioned bronze censers and set with abstract taotie masks under a broad band of wanzi lozenges
covers sold in Nagel, Stuttgart, sale 12 November 2007, lot 1101, set off by thin handles cast with dragon heads with long tongues and
also as 18th century (53.5cm high). See also the openwork peach draped with spiral ended ropes, all under a key fret border band and
branch finial of similar shape to this lot on a recumbent elephant flat lobed rim.
censer sold in Sotheby’s, London, sale 16 May 2007, lot 370, also 9 1/2in (24.2cm) high
as 18th century. $1,200 - 2,000

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF DR. CARROLL For related bronzes, see Sotheby’s Hong Kong, Later Chinese
BROWN MALONE, ACQUIRED IN CHINA IN THE 1920S Bronzes from the Collection of Ulrich Hausmann, 8 October 2014, lots
3302 and 3399.
2340
A CAST BRONZE STAND FOR A BUDDHA ASSEMBLY 2343
Xuande mark, mid-Qing dynasty elements A GOLD-SPLASHED BRONZE COVERED BOX
The five elaborate pedestals each crisply cast in three layers of lotus Xuande mark, 18th/19th century
petals among vine tendrils and held in an arching single line by curving Cast with a raised domed centered top and of substantial weight, the
braces attached to a central vertical shaft all covered in additional warm umber-colored bronze with irregular splashes of gold, a square
applied lithe tendril motifs and extending upwards from a tapered ring recess in the circular base bearing the four-character mark cast in
of stylized Mount Meru patterns issuing from a sturdy base cast as a standard script.
tasseled bombé vase atop a tiered base bearing the four-character 6in (15.3cm) diameter
mark to the underside. $5,000 - 7,000
12in (30.5cm) high
$2,000 - 3,000 2344
AN UNUSUAL CAST BRONZE CENSER
In Gugong Bowuyuan Zang Wenwu Zhenpin Quanji 60: Zang chuan 17th century
fo jiao zao xiang (The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace The cylindrical vessel cast in low relief with outlines of celestial figures
Museum, vol. 60: Buddhist Statues of Tibet), 2008, there are two and constellations under the headings of seminal historical classics
similar edifices, both supporting a specific Buddhist assembly. Called named in a reserve above: Chunqiu, Yijing, Shijing, Shiji; the convex
‘the Shakyamuni who Delivers from the King of the Hungry Ghosts cover pierced with a wanzi-character.
(Ch: Jiudu Yankou Shijiamouni Fo Zuoxiang)’, these pieces were 5 5/8in (14.4cm) high
used in the daily practice of those training in the esoteric tradition, 6in (15.3cm) diameter
as well as for funerals or other important rituals that necessitated the $2,500 - 3,500
appeasement of pretas or Hungry Ghosts.
2345
Both the Qianlong era example (no. 232) and its 10th century A LACQUERED BRONZE FIGURE OF GUANYIN
Kashmiri prototype (no. 22) featured a similar set of five lotus thrones Ming dynasty
blooming from a central shaft. In these pieces, the central position The serene figure wearing an Amitabha crown under her hooded
was occupied by Shakyamuni, surrounded on either side by two chignon, elaborate robes and jeweled necklaces, a book of sutras
additional unidentified Buddhas with the Maitreya and Avalokiteshvara supporting her right arm and a child seated in her lap as she sits
bodhisattvas at either far end. Not only are these five deities missing in royal ease between a parrot and the boy attendant Shancai, all
from the current lot, but numerous other iconographic elements supported on multiple lotus stalks growing from the rock-work base,
appear to be missing or changed, indicating likely significant alteration the surfaces covered with gilt and red lacquer layers.
during the piece’s transformation into its current incarnation as an 12in (30.5cm) high
elegant five-light candelabra. $5,000 - 7,500

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