Page 64 - Christies IMportant Chinese Art Sept 26 2020 NYC

VARIOUS PROPERTIES
1540
A RARE ARCHAISTIC BRONZE WINE VESSEL AND COVER,
FANGYI
17TH CENTURY
The vessel is cast with taotie masks on a leiwen background between
panels of kui dragons below the mouth and around the foot, with
toothed flanges rising from the foot onto the roof-shaped cover
surmounted by a block-shaped finial. The bronze has a dark green
patina. The inscription cast on the base reads Shaoxing ernian Da'ning
chang chen Su Hancheng jian du Jiang Shi zhu Zhide tan yong, which
may be translated as: "In the second year of Shaoxing (1132), under the
supervision of Officer Su Hancheng at the Da'ning workshop Madame
Jiang cast [this item] for the Zhide Altar."
7Ω in. (19 cm.) high, cloth box
$20,000-30,000
PROVENANCE:
Private collection, England.

十七世紀 銅仿宋姜氏方彝
「紹興二年大寧厰臣蘇漢臣監督姜氏鑄至德壇用」銘

A bronze incense burner in the collection of the National Palace Museum,
Taipei, with the same inscription cast on the base as the present fangyi,
is illustrated in The Literati's Ordinaries: A Proposal of Life from the 17th
Century, Taipei, 2019, pl. IV-10 (Fig. 1), where it is dated to the 17th century
and noted to be a classic example of literary taste in the late Ming dynasty.
This incense burner was also included in the 1996 exhibition at The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Possessing the Past: Treasures
from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, and illustrated in the catalogue
on p. 225, p. 99, where the authors describe this group of archaic style
bronzes cast with the same inscription (p.228) as follows: "The most
famous name in bronze casting in the Southern Song period is that of
Chiang Niang-tzu (Madame Chiang). We know that the Chiang family
workshop continued through the Yuan dynasty, as there are references
to Chiang-style bronzes used as models in casting ritual vessels in the
Hsuan-te reign (1426-35) in the early Ming period." They add that the
18th-19th century scholar, Chang T’ing-chi (1768-1848) owned an incense
burner with the same inscription, and it was recorded in the catalogue of
his collection. Chang also noted that he had seen a number of bronzes of
different shapes and sizes with the same inscription.
Fig. 1 Bronze incense burner and cover, 17th century.
© The Collection of National Palace Museum

(inscription on base) (labels on interior)
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