Page 62 - Bonhams Chinese Works of Art December 2015 Hong Kong

35
A RARE GILT-BRONZE ‘TOAD’ WEIGHT
Han Dynasty
Heavily cast poised on all fours in leaping stance with head held high,
above a square platform engraved with scrolling patterns on all sides.
6.6cm long x 6cm wide (2 5/8in long x 2 3/8in wide)

HK$400,000 - 600,000
US$52,000 - 77,000

漢 銅鎏金蛙形席鎮

The depiction of toads dating to the Han dynasty are rare. See,
however, a related bronze toad-shaped weight, Han dynasty, from
the British Museum, London, museum no.1947,0712.384. For
another related example see R.Lefebvre d’Argencé, Chinese, Korean,
and Japanese Sculpture: The Avery Brundage Collection. Asian Art
Museum of San Francisco, New York, 1974, p.61, no.17. Animal-
shaped three-dimensional gilt-bronze weights were produced in the
Han dynasty also in the form of bears, such as the exceptional one
from the Robert Hatfield Ellsworth collection, sold at Christie’s New
York, 17 March 2015, lot 1, and in the form of stags, using cowrie
shells to form their body, as demonstrated by a pair dated to the
Western Han dynasty, sold in the same rooms, 16 October 2001,
lot 181.

Metal weights, including animal-shaped ones such as the present
lot, were used by scholars of ancient China who often sat on mats of
woven bamboo strips, to anchor the corners of the unfurled mat to
prevent it from folding back on itself; for a discussion of mat weights,
see M.C.Wang, A Bronze Menagerie: Mat Weights of Early China,
Boston, 2006.

倫敦大英博物館藏一件漢代銅蛙形鎮可資參考，其博物館編號
為1947,0712.384。另對比一例著錄於R.Lefebvre d’Argencé，
《Chinese, Korean, and Japanese Sculpture: The Avery Brundage
Collection. Asian Art Museum of San Francisco》，紐約，1974年，頁
61，編號17。漢代紙鎮造型也包括熊、鹿形等，可參考安思遠舊藏一
件銅鎏金熊形鎮，後售於紐約佳士得，2015年3月17日，編號1，也見
一西漢時期鹿形鎮，售於紐約佳士得，2001年10月16日，編號181。

鎮是古代人們生活的日常用具，最初是用來壓席子的角，以避免起身
落座時折卷席角，就在其四隅鎮壓。更多有關席鎮的資料，請參閱
M.C.Wang，《 A Bronze Menagerie: Mat Weights of Early China》，
波士頓，2006年。

60 | BONHAMS