Page 217 - Deydier VOL.2 Meiyintang Collection of Chinese Bronses

204. Gold and silver inlaid bronze phoenix-shaped finial
Eastern Zhou dynasty, Warring States period, circa 5 - 3 centuries bc.
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東周戰國時期錯金銀鳳形杖首
Length: 16.5 cm

Gold and silver inlaid bronze finial in the shape of a Provenance:
roosting phoenix. The bird is cast with a crested head ▪ J.J. Lally & Co., New York, U.S.A.
held high, a long neck, an ovoid body, a long, flat tail, and
two slender legs with their talons extended down either
side of the finial’s cylindrical socket. The piece is entirely Exhibited:
decorated with very elaborate geometrical and plume-like ▪ Special Exhibition: Ancient Chinese Bronzes, J.J. Lally
motifs including interlaced scrolls, oblique double lines, & Co., New York 2011, catalogue no. 27.
stylized feathers with eye motifs, etc., all inlaid in either
gold or silver. Published:
▪ Lally J.J., Ancient Chinese Bronzes, New York 2011,
Where not inlaid, the bronze is covered with a dark patina no. 27.
with malachite incrustations.
Similar example:
▪ A quite similar gold and silver inlaid bronze phoenix
finial is illustrated by Rawson J. & Bunker E., Ancient
Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, Oriental Ceramic Society
of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 1990, p. 176 - 177, no. 81.

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