Page 11 - Sotheby's Part I Collection of Sir Joeseph Hotung Collection CHINESE ART , Oct. 9, 2022

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؇ ზ A SILVER-INLAID BRONZE 'TIGER HEAD' ORNAMENT, ҂ ර A SMALL YELLOW JADE FIGURE OF A RABBIT,
մ ፹ EASTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, WARRING STATES PERIOD א ͗ SONG DYNASTY OR EARLIER
኷ ვ well modelled in the form of a feline head with fine lines of silver inlay defining the details, the broad snout with a wide open mouth ˸ ٶ modelled as a dainty crouching rabbit with subtly incised eyes, its muzzle framed by the front paws and the long ears swept backwards,

਷ ډ leading to a hollow interior and open at the back, the pair of almond-shaped eyes surmounted by bushy brows and large rounded ears ۃ Մ the hind legs tucked under the muscular haunches, vertically perforated from behind the ears through to the flat underside, the stone
4.8 by 4.7 by h. 2.5 cm
ࣛ ࠯ of a honey-yellow colour with russet-brown veining
3.4 cm
ಂ ུ PROVENANCE Ը๕j
Eskenazi Ltd, London, 15th August 1988. ࡾ౶̔ॶᄁdࡐ౱d1988ϋ8˜15˚ PROVENANCE Ը๕j
΁ EXHIBITED ࢝ᚎj Chung Wah Pui, Hong Kong, 6th July 1993. ᒤശ੃d࠰ಥd1993ϋ7˜6˚
Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, Oriental Ceramic Society of ڡზၳߵjʕ਷̚˾ၾඈဧε౶ڡზኜ‘d࠰ಥ؇˙ௗନኪ EXHIBITED ࢝ᚎj
Hong Kong, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1990. British Museum, London, on loan, 1995.
ึd࠰ಥᖵஔ᎜d࠰ಥd1990ϋ ɽߵ௹ي᎜dࡐ౱d࠾࢝d1995ϋ
LITERATURE Chinese Jade Animals, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, ʕ਷ӽ͛͗ᎉ‘d࠰ಥᖵஔ᎜d࠰ಥd1996ϋ
̈وj 1996.
Jessica Rawson and Emma C. Bunker, Ancient Chinese and Ordos ̈وj
Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1990, cat. no. 104. ᖯಌʿฌီgႷࣸdڡზၳߵjʕ਷̚˾ၾඈဧε౶ڡზኜ‘ LITERATURE
d࠰ಥd1990ϋdᇜ໮104 Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, ᖯಌdChinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing‘d
HK$ 300,000-500,000 London, 1995, pl. 26:9. ࡐ౱d1995ϋdྡو26:9
US$ 38,300-64,000 Chinese Jade Animals, Hong Kong, 1996, cat. no. 69. ʕ਷ӽ͛͗ᎉ‘d࠰ಥd1996ϋdᇜ໮69
HK$ 40,000-60,000
Bronze animal head-form fittings of this type were probably used For other ornaments of the same type, see an example inscribed to US$ 5,100-7,700
as chariot ornaments, as evidenced by two similar parcel-gilt bronze the underside with two characters reading zuozheng, in the Museum
examples discovered inside the carriage remnants of a chariot from of East Asian Art, Cologne, included in the exhibition Unearthing
the tomb of the Prince of Qi of the Western Han dynasty in Linzi, China's Past, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1973, cat. no. 16; another
Shandong province, published in Zibo Museum, 'Xihan Qiwangmu exhibited in Chinese Archaic Bronzes, Sculpture and Works of Art, J.J.
suizangqiwukeng [The Funerary Pits round the Princely Tomb of Lally & Co., New York, 1992, cat. no. 31; and an undecorated example, Rabbit-form ornaments enjoyed considerable popularity in ancient For comparable Song examples, see a small figure of a rabbit
Qi Kingdom of the Western Han Dynasty]', Kaogu xuebao/Acta attributed to the Han dynasty, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, China, presumably because of the mythological association with crouching on a pedestal in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian
Archaeologica Sinica, vol. 2, Beijing, 1985, fig. 23-3. Thomas Lawton, New York, accession no. 18.43.1. the elixir of immortality on the moon. Jessica Rawson believes the Institution, accession no. S2012.9.2774; and an excavated white jade
on the other hand, suggested that it could have been the top part of present jade rabbit may pre-date the Song period, as it shares some paperweight of a rabbit in a similar pose, published in 'Zhejiang
a tripod stand; see Chinese Art of the Warring States Period, Freer characteristics with examples attributed to the Tang dynasty (ibid., Quzhou shi Nansong mu chutu qiwu [Artifacts unearthed from the
Gallery of Art, Washington DC, 1983, cat. no. 27. p. 365, figs 1-3). Southern Song in Quzhou City, Zhejiang Province]', Archaeology,
1983, no. 11, pp. 1004-18, pl. 6, no. 4.

20 I FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUING ༉းྡ፽ʫ࢙ሗᓭᚎ SOTHEBYS.COM/HK1293 THE PERSONAL COLLECTION OF THE LATE SIR JOSEPH HOTUNG I 21