Page 142 - Bonhams Chinese Art London May 2013

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A rare ‘Eight Immortals’ bronze arrow vase
Ming Dynasty
The vase cast with hexagonal lobed section and
raised on a tiered foot supporting a flaring section
cast with key-fret and pendent lappets, the body
with six bulbous lobes each with a leaf-shaped
medallion enclosing one or two of the Eight
Immortals with their attributes on a geometric
ground, the tall slender neck with applied figures
of Shoulao with a deer and Xiwangmu holding a
peach with a tortoise, all beneath the a band with
two archaistic animal-masks flanked by lobed hollow
handles with geometric ground.
51cm (20in) high
£10,000 - 15,000
HK$120,000 - 180,000 CNY94,000 - 140,000

明 銅凸雕八仙紋貫耳瓶
Provenance: a European private collection
來源：歐洲私人收藏
Compare a similar bronze arrow vase in the Saint
Louis Art Museum, dated to the Ming Dynasty,
Zhengde to Wanli periods, but slightly larger and
cast with dragons on the body and up the neck,
illustrated by P.K.Hu., Later Chinese Bronzes: The
Saint Louis Art Museum and Robert E.Kresko
Collection, Saint Louis, 2008, no.5.
Vases of this type are associated with an ancient
Chinese game called touhu 投壺, or ‘arrow-
throwing’, played during banquets. Contestants
would aim feathered arrows at the three openings at
the top of the vase, with higher points awarded for
arrows thrown into the side openings. The loser was
made to drink wine, leading to increasing inebriation
and diminished throwing accuracy.

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