Page 180 - 2019 September 10th Sotheby's Important Chinese Art Junkunc Collection

252 A RARE BRONZE ‘MYTHICAL BEAST’ WEIGHT
HAN - SIX DYNASTIES
漢至六朝 銅瑞獸形鎮

strikingly modeled in a powerful stance on a circular base of stylized mountains, its ferocious head with the mouth agape
revealing sharp fangs, below bulging eyes and two ridged curling horns, its compact body with wings issuing from the
shoulders and a long bifurcated tail extending down from the end of its arched back, its stout legs terminating in paws with
long claws, the surface with malachite encrustation
Width 3 in., 7.5 cm

$ 50,000-70,000

PROVENANCE 來源
Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978). 史蒂芬•瓊肯三世（1978年逝）收藏

Several related bronze mythical beast weights of this type have been published. Two from the collection of Mr. and
Mrs. Richard C. Bull, one gilt with incised details, attributed to the Han dynasty, the other undecorated with a two-
character inscription to the base, attributed to the Six Dynasties, were sold in these rooms, 6th December 1983,
lots 59 and 61 respectively. Another mythical beast weight of this type, cast with incised details, attributed to the Six
Dynasties, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Place Museum.
Bronze Articles for Daily Use, Hong Kong, 2006, pl. 141.

Compare a bronze mythical beast, rendered in a similar style, but without the circular base, from the collection of Mr.
and Mrs. Frederick M. Mayer, exhibited in Mostra d’arte cinese [Exhibition of Chinese art], Venice, 1954, cat. no. 160;
another included in the exhibition Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1990,
cat. no. 116. See also an undecorated mythical beast weight, modeled in a striding form on a base, from the collection
of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Bernat, included in the exhibition Art of the Six Dynasties, China House Gallery/ China
Institute in America, New York, 1975, cat. no. 39, and later sold in these rooms, 7th November 1980, lot 9; and another
cast with an additional serpentine dragon curled under the mythical beast, exhibited in Arts of Ancient China, J.J.
Lally & Co., New York, 2006, cat. no. 18.

可參考數件相類銅瑞獸鎮例，兩例出自Richard C. Bull伉 斯，1954年，編號160；另一例曾展於《青銅聚英：中國
儷收藏，一件鎏金帶紋飾，斷代漢朝，另一件無紋，底部 古代與鄂爾多斯青銅器》，香港藝術館，香港，1990年，
兩字銘，斷代六朝，售於紐約蘇富比1983年12月6日，編 編號116。再比一例，無紋，連底座，瑞獸採踏步姿，
號分別為59及61。北京故宮博物院收藏一例，帶紋飾，斷 出自Eugene Bernat伉儷收藏，曾展於《Art of the Six
代六朝，圖載於《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集•青銅生活 Dynasties》, 華美協進社，紐約，1975年，編號39，後
器》，香港，2006年，圖版141。 售於紐約蘇富比1980年11月7日，編號9；尚有一例，靈
獸下盤踞一龍，曾展於《Arts of Ancient China》，J.J.
另可比較一例，無圓形底座，出自Frederick M. Mayer
Lally & Co.，紐約，2006年，編號18。
伉儷收藏，曾展於《Mostra d’arte cinese》，威尼

178 JUNKUNC: ARTS OF ANCIENT CHINA II