Page 36 - SOtheby's Hong Kong Fine Chinese Art May 2018

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PROPERTY FROM THE PEONY COLLECTION As explained by Gerard Tsang and Hugh Moss in their note on
A MINIATURE GILT-BRONZE this seal in the aforementioned exhibition article: ‘Early seals
were frequently of small size as before the invention of paper,
‘MYTHICAL BEAST’ SEAL
when they were used to stamp clay impressions, they were
SIX DYNASTIES carried at the belt as symbols of power as well as serving as
identification and authentication.’
cast with a finial rendered as a winged mythical beast in a
powerful striding stance, depicted ferocious with an upturned The authors also state that ‘This tiny seal [conveys a lot] of
snout revealing its fangs, the seal face inscribed with Yang strength in the sculpture of its knob, particularly in relation
Fang siyin (personal seal of Yang Fang) to its tiny proportions. The winged beast, with its striding
1.8 cm,⅝ in. stance, upturned toes, snarling mouth and features of mouth,
whiskers, eyebrows, is remarkably close to a monumental
EXHIBITED stone animal at the mausoleum of Emperor Wu of the Chen
Gerard Tsang and Hugh Moss, Arts from the Scholar’s Studio, dynasty (reigned 560-567)’, illustrated in Liuchao Yishu [The
Fung Ping Shan Museum, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Art of the Six Dynasties], Beijing, 1981, pl. 14. On this basis it
1986, cat. no. 125. would be reasonable to assign this seal to the Six Dynasties
era.
HK$ 20,000-30,000
US$ 2,550-3,850
六朝 鎏金銅瑞獸印

印文：陽防私印
展覽：
曾柱昭及莫士撝，《文玩萃珍》，香港大學馮平山博物
館， 香港，1986年，編號125
Seal Face Impression

34 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比