Page 32 - March 17 2017 Chinese Art NYC, Christies

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION

1017
A VERY RARE SMALL BRONZE PHOENIX-FORM EWER

LATE WESTERN-EARLY EASTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, 8TH-7TH CENTURY BC
The ewer is cast as a crouching phoenix, the long legs folded underneath the body and the scroll-like
wings that terminate in a small bird head at the front raised on either side. The body is cast with scale-like
feathers and has a small spout emerging from the breast below the upright neck and the forward-facing
head. The hinged cover is cast as a small bird in front of an animal-mask loop that extends back to the
fared tail.
6¿ in. (15.2 cm.) long, box
$300,000-500,000

PROVENANCE

The Property of a Gentleman; Christie’s, New York, 22 March 1999, lot 194.
西周晚期/春秋早期 青銅鳳鳥盉

Fig. 1. Bronze phoenix-form ewer, late Western-early Eastern dynasty, 8th-7th century BC,
The Collection of Robert Hatfeld Ellsworth Part I: Masterworks: Including Indian, Himalayan
and Southeast Asian Works of Art, Chinese and Japanese Works of Art; Christie’s New York,
17 March 2015, lot 5.

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