Page 216 - Chinese Works of Art Chritie's Mar. 22-23 2018

PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF DR. GEORGE S. HEYER, JR. (1930-2015)
921
A SMALL RARE BRONZE CHIMERA-FORM VESSEL
HAN-SIX DYNASTIES PERIOD, CIRCA 3RD-4TH CENTURY
The vessel is hollow cast as a powerful mythical beast (bixie) standing in a semi-crouch with head facing
forward as it opens its mouth in a roar exposing the tongue, and the ears are pricked above backswept
horns. The body is fnely detailed with scales and hair markings on the whiskers, beard, mane, haunches
and tripartite tail which is ficked to one side forming a loop above a small hole. A tubular holder is set
behind the right foreleg and a tube projecting from the center of the back is ftted with a removable tube
encircled by a narrow collar below the everted petals that surround the opening. There is malachite and
azurite encrustation.
3Ω in. (9 cm.) high
$40,000-60,000

PROVENANCE
Eskenazi Ltd., London, March 1998.
George S. Heyer, Jr. (1930-2015) Collection.
EXHIBITED
New York, Eskenazi Ltd., Animals and Animal Designs in Chinese Art, 24 March-4 April 1998.
LITERATURE
Eskenazi Ltd., Animals and Animal Designs in Chinese Art, New York, 1998, no. 13.
An almost identical vessel is illustrated by Bo Gyllensvärd, Östasiatiska Museet, Stockholm, 1971, p. 45.
Another similar example with a rider is illustrated by Ma Chengyuan (ed.), Zhongguo wenwu jinghua
daquan, Hong Kong, 1994, p. 343, pl. 123.

When published by Eskenazi, Animals and Animal Designs in Chinese Art, New York, 1998, the entry for
this bronze, no. 8, noted that the exact purpose of these vessels is unclear. The entry proposes that the
tube behind the foreleg might have held incense sticks, while the removable tube in the back might have
held a wick for the oil stored in the body. The removable tube could also have been used as a dropper to
draw up oil or other liquids stored in the body.
漢/六朝 銅辟邪器

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