Page 99 - 2019 September 10th Sotheby's Important Chinese Art Junkunc Collection

emarkable for its striking form and precise modeling, through which a powerful dynamism
is successfully captured, the present lot is a testimony to the unlimited creativity of
Rancient artisans who ingeniously transformed a functional object into a form of sculptural
art. Although it is difficult to conclude definitively without direct evidence, the present lot was likely
functioned as a support for bronze censers during the Han dynasty.

Dragon-form supports of this type are extremely rare, and only a very small number of examples appear
to be recorded, including a nearly identical bronze dragon, attributed to the Han dynasty, exhibited in
Fine and Rare Chinese Works of Art and Ceramics Summer Exhibition, Roger Keverne, London, 2008,
cat. no. 6. Another gilt-bronze dragon of a larger size, cast in a very similar posture, but missing its head
and legs, attributed to the Han dynasty, was sold in our London rooms, 29th February 1972, lot 142, and
later published in Hayashi Minao and Higuchi Takayasu, Fugendō Sakamoto Gorō Chūgoku seidōki seishō
(Ancient Chinese Bronzes in the Sakamoto Collection), Tokyo, 2002, pl. 298.

Han dynasty bronze censers are often supported on similar dragon-form bases. Compare a related gilt-
bronze dragon of a smaller size, cast with a similarly coiled body, supporting on its head a boshan censer,
attributed to the Han dynasty, published in Pierre Uldry, Chinesische Gold und Silber, Zurich, 1994, pl.
92; another attributed to the Eastern Han dynasty, exhibited in Unearthing China’s Past, Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston, 1973, cat. no. 43; one of a simpler design, from the Han dynasty, 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. 93.

Similar depictions of the present dragon can also be found as the design on the base of Han dynasty
censers, such as one, as part of the reticulated foot of a censer, closely modeled in the same posture
with its head raised high, attributed to the Han dynasty, exhibited in ibid., Roger Keverne, London,
2008, cat. no. 7. A further example is found on the foot of a Western Han dynasty gilt and silvered
bronze censer, where it is depicted in openwork with a sinuous body and a raised head issuing the long
stem of the censer, illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji gongyi meishu bian qingtongqi [Complete
collection of Chinese fine art. Archaic bronzes], vol. 2, Beijing, 1986, pls 209-211; and another gilt-bronze
example from the Stoclet Collection, exhibited in Ancient Chinese Bronzes from the Stoclet and Wessen
Collections, Eskenazi, London, 1975, cat. no. 9.

本品造型瑰瑋，鑄工精微，盡顯盤龍靈動之態，古時 黎世，1994年，圖版92；另一例，斷代東漢，展
巧匠化用具為美器，才思無窮，於此座可見一斑。雖 於《Unearthing China’s Past》，波士頓美術
無實證可考，然此座似於漢代作承銅熏爐之用。 館，1973年，編號43；再一例，造型更簡，漢代，
故宮博物院寶蓄，北京，載《故宮博物院藏文物珍
同類龍形座稀見無多，載例寥寥，可見一例，尤為相
品全集：青銅生活器》，香港，2006年，圖版93。
近，斷代漢，展於《Fine and Rare Chinese Works
of Art and Ceramics Summer Exhibition》 相類盤龍形象亦見於漢代熏爐足飾，如一爐，
，Roger Keverne，倫敦，2008年，編號6；另一 鏤空足龍紋造型極似，龍首高昂，斷代漢，展覽出處
鎏金銅龍尺寸較大，造型頗似，然首足已失，亦斷漢 同上，RogeraKeverne，倫敦，2008年，編號7；
代，售於倫敦蘇富比1972年2月29日，編號142，後 另比一西漢銅錯金銀爐，高足鏤作龍紋，盤軀
刊林巳奈夫及樋口隆康，《不言堂坂本五郎：中国青 仰 首 ， 錄 《 中 國 美 術 全 集 • 工 藝 美 術 編 • 青 銅
銅器清賞》，東京，2002年，圖版298。 器》，卷2，北京，1986年，圖版209至211；
及一鎏金銅例，Stoclet雅藏，展於《Ancient
漢代銅熏爐多設龍形托座。比一鎏金銅龍，體型稍
Chinese Bronzes from the Stoclet and Wessen
小，盤軀相似，龍首頂博山爐，斷漢代，錄Pierre
Collections》，埃斯卡納齊，倫敦，1975年，編號9。
Uldry，《Chinesische Gold und Silber》，蘇

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