Page 248 - Nov 29 2017 HK Important Chinese Ceramics

3035

A VERY RARE GILT-BRONZE TWIN-HANDLED
‘LOTUS SCROLL’ VASE
MING DYNASTY, 16TH-17TH CENTURY
The tall slender vase is cast with two crescent-shaped dragon-
head handles to the neck which flanks low-relief birds perched
on two floral leafy branches rising from rocks which encircle the
shoulder. The body is decorated with bold leafy scrolling lotus
blooms above a gilt-decorated spreading foot. The base is cast
with a mark reading ‘nei zao’, ‘made for the court’ encircled by
two dragons.
17 º in. (43.5 cm.) high
HK$200,000-300,000 US$26,000-39,000

明十六/十七世紀 鎏金銅花鳥纏枝蓮紋雙龍耳瓶
「內造」款
明代銅器之器形多源自青銅器，本瓶應以青銅壺為藍本。近似例可參
考一件器型、紋飾相仿者 ( 高 52 公分 )，其於 2012 年 11 月 6 日倫敦
佳士得拍賣，拍品 171 號，以及器型類似的一例，載於《The Second
Bronze Age: Later Chinese Metalwork》，香港，1991 年，圖版 64 號。
此瓶外底鑄款「內造」二字，故推測其應為內府監造之物。
During the Ming dynasty, bronze vessels were often modelled in the
form of archaic bronzes. The form of the current vase is probably
derived from the archaic bronze hu with an elongated neck. Compare
to a late Ming bronze vase (52 cm. high) of similar form and
decoration, sold at Christie’s London, 6 November 2012, lot 171, and
another late Ming bronze vase of comparable form (48.1 cm high)
illustrated in Sydney L. Moss Ltd., The Second Bronze Age: Later
Chinese Metalwork, Hong Kong, 1991, no. 64. The mark on the base,
nei zao, suggests that the vase was made by the imperial household,
which is further supported by the two five-clawed dragons encircling
the mark. No other identical example with this mark appears to have
been published to date.

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