Page 75 - Sotheby's Part II Collection of Sir Joeseph Hotung Collection CHINESE ART , Oct. 9, 2022

Superbly cast and sumptuously decorated in silver inlay, the present
Chinesisches Gold und Silber – die Sammlung Pierre Uldry, Museum
corner-piece is possibly unique and encapsulates not only the Rietberg, Zurich, 1994, cat. no. 23, the third sold at Christie’s New
technological virtuosity of the bronze workshops but also the peak of York, 17th March 2017, lot 1009, and another in the collection of Dr
luxury in the Warring States period (475-221 BC). Paul Singer, illustrated in Max Loehr, Relics of Ancient China from the
Collection of Dr. Paul Singer, Asia Society, New York 1965, cat. no.
Each side of the L-shaped corner piece is ingeniously designed to 71, where the current piece is referred to “as a rather close example
dynamically depict a winged mythical beast, which, shares a common in the Stoclet collection”.
muzzle with the other, and can therefore also be interpreted as one
single beast when viewed from the pointed centre of the piece. The current corner-piece differs from the set of four most visibly
Each beast is portrayed striding forward powerfully – particularly in that the beasts are winged dragons and portrayed in a more
accentuated by the extensive use of curves in the fluid outlines of naturalistic and three-dimensional manner. Each winged beast
the muscular body – skilfully echoed in the tail, wings, and horn as is rendered with a more sinuous body and an additional hindleg,
well as the delicate inlays – in a way that juxtaposes with the straight heightening the dynamism of the figure; the paws are comparatively
L-shaped band at the top of the corner-piece. more defined with grooves and other subtle details such as the teeth
are also more delicately depicted. The employment of the silver inlay
Like most bronze animals from this period, the current corner-piece is also different; instead of conforming to a consistent geometric
had a practical function and was most likely made as a set of four to pattern, the inlay in the current corner-piece complements the
serve as a corner support for a low table, vessel or tray for an elite musculature of the beasts and further outlines details such as the
or royal patron. See a Warring States period example of mythical striations of the horns. For a similar corner-piece depicting winged
beasts acting as corner supports in an elaborate a gold and silver- mythical beasts, but decorated in gilding instead of silver inlay, see
inlaid bronze table support and frame unearthed at Pingshan county, Sueji Umehara, ‘Rakuyo kinson kobo shuei', (Report of the Findings of
Hebei province and now in the Hebei Museum, illustrated in Gems Old Tombs at Jincun, Luoyang), Kyoto, 1937, pl. LXVII.
of China’s Cultural Relics, Beijing, 1990, cat. no. 69. The placement of
mythical beasts at the corners in such a way that welcomes various A pair of silver-inlaid bronze winged mythical beasts, dated to the
angles of viewing can be found from as early as the Shang dynasty; mid-late Warring States period, which served as “either stands or
see two bronze vessels illustrated in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji fittings for furniture” (Jessica Rawson, Mysteries of Ancient China:
[Complete series on Chinese bronzes], vol. 13: Ba Shu, Beijing, 1994, New Discoveries from the Early Dynasties, New York, 1996, p. 156)
pl. 87, and vol. 1: Xia Shang, Beijing, 1996, pl. 117. were unearthed from the royal tombs of the Zhongshan state,
Pingshan county, Hebei province. One of the pair is illustrated in
No identical example to the current corner-piece appears to be Zhongguo meishu quanji gongyi meishu bian [Complete Series on
recorded, however, four similar silver-inlaid corner-pieces – which Chinese Art], vol. 5, Beijing, 1987, pl. 108, where the author proposes
would have formed a set in the Warring States period – are a link with later bixie figures from the Han dynasty and onwards. For
known. These comprise two formerly in the collection of Stephen a Han dynasty bronze bixie offered this sale, also formerly from the
Junkunc IV and now in the collection of Pierre Uldry, illustrated in renowned collection of Adolphe Stoclet, see lot 1.
CTION OF THE LA
TE SIR JO
SEPH HO
OLLE
THE PERSONAL COLLECTION OF THE LATE SIR JOSEPH HOTUNG I 149149
THE PERS
ONAL C
TUNG I