Page 149 - Christies Asia Week 2015 Chinese Works of Art

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE ASIAN 2105
COLLECTION

2105
AN UNUSUAL BRONZE SCOOP
WESTERN HAN DYNASTY, CIRCA 3RD-2ND
CENTURY BC

The deep, rounded bowl has an everted rim
leading into the hollowed handle which
is cast on the interior with two characters,
Er’rong, possibly a name, and is spanned at
the curved end by a mask with bird-like tail.
There is mottled milky green encrustation
inside and out.
10Ω in. (26.8 cm.) long, stand

$5,000-7,000

PROVENANCE:

J.T. Tai & Co., New York, prior to 1977.
Arthur M. Sackler Collections; Christie’s
New York, 24 March 2011, lot 1203.

The mask with the tail-like extension at the
end of the handle is similar to that seen on a
small gilt-bronze garment hook, dated to the
Han dynasty, illustrated in Ars Asiatica - VII -
Documents d’Art Chinois de la Collection Osvald
Sirén, Paris/Brussels, 1925, pl. IX, no. 173.

西漢 青銅「爾榮」勺

VARIOUS PROPERTIES

2106
A BRONZE RITUAL TRIPOD FOOD VESSEL
AND COVER, DING
LATE SPRING AND AUTUMN PERIOD, 5TH
CENTURY BC

The vessel is raised on three tall, hollow legs
cast on the rounded top with an inverted
taotie mask between scroll bands, and is fat-
cast around the hemispherical body with a
band of interlocked dragon-scroll pattern
interrupted by the pair of hollow, upright
handles cast in openwork on the outside
for the insertion of inlay. The domed cover
has two similar dragon scroll bands and
three upright rings that function as feet
when the cover is inverted. A fve-character
inscription, Mu [] zuo bao yi (‘Mu [] made
[this] precious vessel’) is cast in relief in a line
below the rim on the interior. The bronze
has a mottled grey and green patina.
10¿ in. 25.7 cm.) high

$7,000-9,000

PROVENANCE:

Gallery Rosen, Ancient Art, Tel Aviv, 1976.
春秋晚期 青銅「木□作寶彜」鼎

2106

2105 2106 147

(inscription) (inscription)