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A BRONZE BIRD-SHAPED OIL LAMP HOLDER
Han Dynasty
Finely cast as a standing phoenix with the wings upswept on either
side to flank the slender body, with a sinuous, elongated neck, a
curling cranial plume and bulging eyes before the long, curving beak
grasping the circular lamp tray, its long legs terminating in pronounced
talons gripping a ruyi stand, wood box.
56.5cm (22 2/8in) high (2).

£30,000 - 50,000 CNY280,000 - 460,000
HK$330,000 - 550,000

漢 青銅瑞鳥式燈架

Provenance: Julius Eberhardt

Published: R.Krahl, Collection Julius Eberhardt: Early Chinese Art,
Hong Kong, 1999, 2004, pp.118-119, no.52

來源： Julius Eberhardt 先生舊藏

出版： R.Krahl著，《Collection Julius Eberhardt: Early Chinese
Art(Julius Eberhardt藏中國早期藝術)》，香港，1999及2004年，頁
188-199，編號52

During the Han dynasty, lamps replaced candles as the main sources
of light, becoming important household items. Extravagant models
were made for high-ranking members of society. In Han burials,
lamps provided light for the soul’s path to the afterlife, functioning
as apotropaic devices that facilitated the deceased’s journey to the
increasingly alienated, gloomy, and dangerous underworld.

The function of lamps may in fact be examined in connection with the
occurrence of documents, such as land deeds, diquan (地契) and
the ‘Celestial Ordinances’, Zhenmuwen (鎮墓文) which detailed the
deceased’s possessions and acted as amulets to ward off the harmful
spirits of the Netherworld. According to the ‘Classic of Mountains and
Seas’, Shanhai jing (山海經), compiled during the Han dynasty, the
mythical bird was one of the fantastic creatures inhabiting the immortal
lands of the Queen Mother of the West. The phoenix was also one of
the four mythical creatures originating from Daoist philosophy of the
Warring States period. Indicating South, and thus the sun, warmth and
harvest, the phoenix frequently occurred in conjunction with the Turtle,
or Black Warrior of the North, as well as the White Tiger of West and
the Azure Dragon of the East, positioning the burial within the spatial-
temporal features of the universe. For references, see J.Rawson, The
Eternal Palaces of the Western Han: A New View of the Universe, in
‘Bulletin of Far Eastern Antiquities’, vol.72, pp.133-189.

Bronze lamps supported by standing birds are rare. A lamp supported
by a peacock, however, is illustrated by C.Deydier, Rituels pour
l’eternite, Paris, 2001, no.17. Another, supported by a mythical bird,
was sold at Sotheby’s New York, 19 March 2007, lot 516.

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