Page 186 - 2019 September 10th Sotheby's Important Chinese Art Junkunc Collection

255 A RARE BRONZE FIGURE OF A DOE
WARRING STATES PERIOD - HAN DYNASTY
戰國至漢 青銅鹿

naturalistically cast, the stocky animal depicted playfully striding with its fore legs and rear legs widely spread in opposite
directions, it’s head rendered with large rounded eyes and pricked ears, its short tail curved upward, the underside with a
rectangular opening revealing a hollow interior, the surface mottled with patches of malachite encrustation

Length 6¼ in., 15.9 cm
$ 40,000-60,000

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

The present lot is an exceptional example of ancient sculptural art, in which the liveliness of the animal is reflected
through the dynamic movements rather than through the realistic portrayal of subtle details. See a gilt-bronze ram
of a similar size, modeled in a similar galloping posture, discovered inside a wine cup from an Eastern Han dynasty
hoard at Lijia village, Yanshi, Henan province, now in the Henan Museum, Zhengzhou, published in Zhongguo wenwu
jinghua daquan qingtongjuan [Compendium of Chinese art. Bronzes], Taipei, 1993, no. 1222.

The present lot is cast to the underside with a rectangular aperture, which indicates a functional purpose. Although
its exact use is still unclear, several related bronze does with hollow interiors are known, suggesting they were
possibly ornamental fittings. None of the published examples are, however, modeled galloping, which makes the
present lot a particularly rare example of this type. Related bronze does of a smaller size have been identified as
chariot yoke ornaments, such as four, cast standing with similarly styled large rounded eyes and pricked ears,
attributed to 5th-4th century B.C., exhibited in Traders and Raiders on China’s Northern Frontier, Arthur M. Sackler
Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1995, cat. no. 32.

See a pair of slightly recumbent smaller bronze deer, attributed to the late Zhou dynasty, from the Stoclet Collection,
published in H.F.E. Visser, Asiatic Art in Private Collections of Holland and Belgium, New York, 1952, pl. 62, no. 127;
one from the collection of H. v. Klemperer, attributed to Han dynasty, exhibited in Ausstellung Chinesischer Kunst
[Exhibition of Chinese Art], Berlin, 1929, cat. no. 86; a third attributed to Ordos, 3rd-1st century BC, exhibited in
Ancient Chinese Bronze vessels, gilt bronzes and sculptures, Eskenazi, London, 1977, cat. no. 39; as well as a group of
related examples in various forms, from the Collection of C.T. Loo, illustrated in Alfred Salmony, Sino-Siberian Art. The
collection of C.T. Loo, Paris, 1933, pl. XXXIII.

本品青銅鹿，形象生動，風格率真，雖無過多細節，但神 比較一對例，尺寸較小，呈臥姿，斷代周朝晚期，出
態動式皆惟妙，乃青銅造像佳例。比較一銅鎏金羊作例， 自Stoclet收藏，載於H.F.E. Visser，《Asiatic Art in
尺寸相近，亦作奔跑姿態，出土自河南偃師市李家村，現 Private Collections of Holland and Belgium》，
存於鄭州河南博物館，載於《中國文物精華大全•青銅 紐約，1952年，圖版62，編號127；另一例出自H. v.
卷》，台北，1993年，編號1222。 Klemperer收藏，斷代漢朝，曾展於《Ausstellung
Chinesischer Kunst》，柏林，1929年，編號86；另比
本品底部有一長方開孔，顯示此為實用器。詳細用途現時
一鄂爾多斯例，斷代公元前三至一世紀，
未能確定，唯可參考數件中空青銅鹿例，由此可推測為
曾展於《Ancient Chinese Bronze vessels, gilt bronzes
裝飾部件。已知作例中，尚未見作奔跑狀者，故更顯本
and sculptures》，埃斯卡納齊，倫敦，1977年，編號
品獨特稀珍。比較數馬車軛飾例，尺寸較小，其中四例
39；尚有一組例，器形各異，出自盧芹齋收藏，圖載於
刻劃站立姿態，圓目、尖耳與本品相近，斷代公元前四
Alfred Salmony，《Sino-Siberian Art. The collection
至五世紀，曾展於《Traders and Raiders on China’s
of C.T. Loo》，巴黎， 1933年，圖版XXXIII。
Northern Frontier》，亞瑟•M•賽克勒美術館，華盛
頓，1995年，編號32。
184 JUNKUNC: ARTS OF ANCIENT CHINA II