Page 62 - 2019 September 10th Sotheby's Important Chinese Art Junkunc Collection

212 AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE GOLD AND SILVER-INLAID FITTING
WARRING STATES PERIOD - HAN DYNASTY
戰國至漢 銅錯金銀卷雲紋部件

cast with a cylindrical axis connecting a handle and a domed cover set with two extended L-shaped brackets and surmounted
by a short cylindrical top, finely inlaid in gold and silver with a stylized scroll design, the top slotted for a sliding rectangular
peg with a small circular loop extending to the axis

Length 3⅜ in., 8.5 cm
$ 30,000-50,000

PROVENANCE 來源
C.T. Loo, New York, 31st October 1957. 盧芹齋，紐約，1957年10月31日
Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978). 史蒂芬•瓊肯三世（1978年逝）收藏

The identification of the function of the present lot is fundamentally challenging without access to its place of
discovery and full knowledge of its mechanism. Speculation, however, based on archeological findings, suggests that
the present fitting may have be a component for the door lock on the carriage of a chariot. See a bronze carriage
door lock for a chariot, modeled with a similar flat handle attached to a locking mechanism, discovered from the
tomb of the Prince of Qi of the Western Han dynasty, illustrated in Zibo Museum, ‘Xihan Qiwangmu suizangqiwukeng
[The Funerary Pits round the Princely Tomb of Qi Kingdom of the Western Han Dynasty]’, Kaogu xuebao/Acta
Archaeologica Sinica, vol. 2, Beijing, 1985, pl. 20, fig. 4, where the author notes the knob handle on one end is a
switch that can be turned, p. 248.

See also a parcel-gilt bronze door handle, connected to a lock bar through a square-sectioned axis, excavated
near the end of the carriage remnants from the tomb of Liu Sheng, Prince of Zhongshan of the Western Han
dynasty, in Mancheng, Hebei province, illustrated in Institute of Archaeology, CASS, ed., Mancheng Hanmu fajue
baogao [Archaeological report of the Han tombs in Mancheng], vol. 2, Beijing, 1980, pl. 225, fig. 3. According to the
archeological report, this handle was probably installed on the door of the carriage. Once the door is closed, the
weight of the handle would pull itself downward, subsequently turning the lock bar horizontally to lock the door, see
ibid., vol. 1, p. 324.

The present fitting is adorned elaborately in gold and silver inlay with a stylized scrolling design, which can be
compared to a parcel-gilt silver-inlaid bronze hu, decorated with the same design around the body, attributed to
the Warring States period, included in the exhibition Masterpieces of Chinese Arts from the Art Institute of Chicago,
Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 1989, cat. no. 13.

本品具體作用，尚難以確定。根據相關考古發現，推測此 漢墓發掘報告》，冊下，北京，1980年，圖版225，圖3
物或為馬車輿門開關部件。比較一銅輿門開關，柄呈扁 。根據考古研究報告，該件或裝於車門，關門時門柄重量
平狀，連接機件，西漢齊王墓出土，圖載於淄博博物館， 帶動門柄自動下擺，從而帶動橫桿轉動，鎖上車門，前述
〈西漢齊王墓隨葬器物坑〉，《考古學報》，期2，北 出處，卷1，頁324。
京，1985年，圖版20，圖4，據作者描述，其一端有旋鈕
開關，頁248。 本品所飾錯金銀卷紋，華麗細緻，可比較一局部鎏金錯銀
壺例，紋飾相同，斷代戰國，曾展於《シカゴ美術館中国
另比一銅局部鎏金門柄例，出土於西漢中山王劉勝墓車輿 美術名品展》，大阪市立東洋陶磁美術舘，1989年，編號
殘留位置，圖載於中國社會科學院考古研究所編，《滿城 13。

60 JUNKUNC: ARTS OF ANCIENT CHINA II