Page 34 - 2019 September 10th Sotheby's Important Chinese Art Junkunc Collection

204 A VERY RARE GILT-BRONZE ‘MYTHICAL BEAST’ WEIGHT
HAN DYNASTY
漢 銅鎏金瑞獸形鎮

finely cast in the form of a coiled feline creature grasping a lingzhi sprig in its mouth, its head detailed with a pointed beard, a
broad snout, almond-shaped eyes and bushy brows below long finely incised mane swept against its back
Diameter 2¼ in., 5.8 cm

$ 30,000-50,000

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

Modeled in the form of a feline beast, with a distinct round, almost snake-like coiled body and a lingzhi sprig in
its mouth, the present piece is an exceptionally rare example of a Han dynasty weight. While no other gilt-bronze
weights of this design appear to be published, several related examples of a similar form are known, such as a pair of
larger gilt-bronze weights, each similarly cast in the form of a coiled feline creature with a round body, but depicted
without the long mane and beard and the lingzhi in the mouth, attributed to the Western Han dynasty, exhibited
Inlaid Bronze and Related material from Pre-Tang China, Eskenazi, London, 1991, cat. no. 15.

Compare also a related gold and silver-inlaid bronze weight of a larger size, with the animal’s head raised and
mouth agape, attributed to the Han dynasty, from the Qing Imperial Collection, now in the Palace Museum, Beijing,
published in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Bronze Articles for Daily Use, Hong Kong,
2006, pl. 128; and another of slightly larger size, cast with a similarly coiled body of rounded form, carved with an
inscription to the underside, from the Sze Yuan Tang Collection, exhibited in The Glorious Traditions of Chinese
Bronzes, Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore, 2000, pl. 96, and later sold at Christie’s New York, 16th September
2010, lot 886.

此品鎮，作虎形瑞獸，身如靈蛇盤繞，嘴銜靈芝，尤為罕 另見一尺寸較大銅錯金銀鎮例，瑞獸昂首，嘴部張大，斷
見。目前尚未見他例，但見相類鎮例，如一對尺寸較大銅 代漢，清宮舊藏，現藏於北京故宮博物院，載於《故宮博
鎏金鎮，亦呈虎形，身軀豐圓，作盤繞狀，但無長鬃鬚與 物院藏文物珍品全集•青銅生活器》，香港，2006年，
所銜靈芝，斷代西漢，展於《Inlaid Bronze and Related 圖版128；另有一例，尺寸較大，底部刻有銘文，思源堂
material from Pre-Tang China》，埃斯卡納齊，倫 收藏，展《中國青銅器萃賞》，亞洲文明博物館，新加
敦，1991年，編號15。 坡，2000年，圖版96，後售於紐約佳士得，2010年9月
16日，拍品編號886。

32 JUNKUNC: ARTS OF ANCIENT CHINA II