Page 328 - Bonhams Fine Chinese Art Nov 2013 Hong Kong

505 505
An archaic bronze ladle, and a gold and silver-inlaid mounting
506 Late Shang dynasty
326 | Bonhams Thinly cast with an recessed oval head, the body worked with keyfret
scrolls and ending in a serpent head finial with a loose fitting resembling
a hissing tongue; the other an elongated rod with upturned hollow
fitting, all tapering towards a flat tip, the body decorated with gold and
silver inlays. The ladle 25.8cm long. (2).
HK$20,000 - 40,000
US$2,600 - 5,200

商晚期 蛇首迴紋勺

See a similar excavated example with a serpent-like tip with moving
tongue finial, unearthed at Yantoucun, Yihe, Suide County, Shaanxi
province in 1965, in the Shaanxi History Museum, Xian, illustrated in
Bronzes from Northern Shaanxi. Volume II, Chengdu, 2009, pp.242-243,
accession no.SLB72-226.

506
An archaic bronze ‘ox’ ladle
Western Han dynasty, Dian culture
Cast in the form of a hemisphere, attached to a wide flattened handle
decorated with swirling patters, ending with a finial in the form of an ox
head with a fixed ring handle beneath.
23.9cm long.
HK$20,000 - 30,000
US$2,600 - 3,900

西漢 牛首青銅勺

Compare a related excavated example of a ladle with similar ox-head
finial, unearthed at Xiejiagou, Qingjian county, Shaanxi province in
1977, in the Shaanxi History Museum, Xian, illustrated in Bronzes from
Northern Shaanxi. Volume II, Chengdu, 2009, p.257, accession no.SLB8.