Page 69 - Sotheby's Part I Collection of Sir Joeseph Hotung Collection CHINESE ART , Oct. 9, 2022

183 184
؇ ڡ A BRONZE 'ANIMAL MASKS' อ ͗ A JADE STAFF FINIAL,
մ ზ SPEARHEAD, ͩ ˽ NEOLITHIC PERIOD
኷ ᜊ EASTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, ኜ ࠯ the finial with a shaft of oval section, marked with two raised ridges and surmounted by a semicircular head

਷ Җ WARRING STATES PERIOD ࣛ 13.3 cm
ࣛ Ꮂ the elaborate haft surmounted by stylized masks cast in relief and ˾ PROVENANCE Ը๕j
ಂ ७ covered in dense geometric designs, set with a small loop on one Pin Chen Tang, Hong Kong, 18th May 1988. ۜޜੀd࠰ಥd1988ϋ5˜18˚
ͧ side and the remains of another loop on the other side, the short EXHIBITED ࢝ᚎj
and broad blade rendered with a central ridge flanked by two
British Museum, London, on loan, 1995.
᎘ sunken channels, each channel cast with abstract zoomorphic LITERATURE ɽߵ௹ي᎜dࡐ౱d࠾࢝d1995ϋ
patterns, filled with fine hatching in the troughs, the blade of a ̈وj
dark silvery tone Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, ᖯಌdChinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing‘d
19.1 cm London, 1995, pl. 10:28. ࡐ౱d1995ϋdྡو10:28
PROVENANCE HK$ 20,000-30,000
US$ 2,550-3,850
Luen Chai Curios, Hong Kong, 25th February 1988.
EXHIBITED
A similar crescent-topped stone staff finial, albeit damaged, was
Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, Oriental Ceramic Society of recovered from an archaeological site in Wuyang Jiahu, Henan,
Hong Kong, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1990. dated to c. 6500-5500 BC. Carefully finished and unearthed
LITERATURE together with ritual objects such as bone musical flutes, the Henan
finial is believed to be of an emblematic function (Jenny F. So,
Jessica Rawson and Emma C. Bunker, Ancient Chinese and Ordos Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge,
Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1990, cat. no. 64.
2019, p. 82, fig. 1). Compare two related finials, both ranked as the
HK$ 10,000-15,000 oldest stone artefacts in their collections: one in the Harvard Art
US$ 1,300-1,950 Museums, Cambridge, accession no. 1943.50.635, illustrated ibid., pl.
4; and another in the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington DC, accession no. F18919.52.
Ը๕j
ᑌᓈِ̚໮d࠰ಥd1988ϋ2˜25˚
࢝ᚎj
ڡზၳߵjʕ਷̚˾ၾඈဧε౶ڡზኜ‘d࠰ಥ؇˙ௗନ
ኪึd࠰ಥᖵஔ᎜d࠰ಥd1990ϋ
̈وj
ᖯಌʿฌီgႷࣸdڡზၳߵjʕ਷̚˾ၾඈဧε౶ڡზኜ‘
d࠰ಥd1990ϋdᇜ໮ 64

136 I FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUING ༉းྡ፽ʫ࢙ሗᓭᚎ SOTHEBYS.COM/HK1293 THE PERSONAL COLLECTION OF THE LATE SIR JOSEPH HOTUNG I 137