Page 113 - 2020 Sept Important Chinese Art Sotheby's NYC Asia Week

9/2/2020 Important Chinese Art | Sotheby's

戴克成，東方青銅器有限公司，倫敦
Alan 及 Simone Hartman 伉儷收藏
瑞士私人收藏
戴克成，東方青銅器有限公司，巴黎

Exhibition
Ancient Chinese Bronze Vessels, Gilt Bronzes and Early Ceramics, Christian Deydier, Oriental Bronzes Ltd., London, 1986, cat. no.
9.
Arts de la Chine et de l'Himalaya, Christian Deydier, Oriental Bronzes Ltd., Paris, 1997, cat. no. 4.

展覽
《Ancient Chinese Bronze Vessels, Gilt Bronzes and Early Ceramics》，戴克成，東方青銅器有限公司，倫敦，1986年，編號9
《Arts de la Chine et de l'Himalaya》，戴克成，東方青銅器有限公司，巴黎，1997年，編號4

Catalogue Note
Robustly cast in the form of a buffalo, this figure embodies the characteristics of Zhou sculpture, demonstrating the craftsmen's
attempt to capture the vital energy of creatures rather than a precise and naturalistic rendering. The muscular legs and bulky body
emphasize the strength of the creature, its power accentuated by the swirling linear pattern that rises from the sturdy legs and the
stylized facial features with large curled horns. The open mouth and turned head give a feeling of suspended motion or latent
energy.

In its powerful depiction, this figure points to the central role buffaloes played in agriculture. Important accomplishments of the
Zhou dynasty included advancements in irrigation, such as drainage, waterways, canals and dams. They developed iron tools
during this time, including iron-tipped ox-drawn ploughs. Furthermore, soldiers wore either a sleeveless coat of buffalo or
rhinoceros hide or boiled leather armor for protection.

A number of buffaloes of this type are recorded and are believed to have been used as stands or feet for large vessels. Some face
right while others face left, indicating they came in pairs or fours. See a closely related buffalo illustrated in Tch’ou Tö-yi, Bronzes
Antiques de la Chine Appartenant a C.T. Loo & Cie, Paris, 1924, pl. 19, and another, with the head turned to the right, formerly with
Yamanaka & Co. and J.T. Tai Ltd., sold in these rooms 13th September 2017, lot 72.

Related figures with sockets on the back are more commonly known; one from Earl and Irene Morse and Stoclet Collections,
illustrated and exhibited on numerous occasions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in 1982, was sold in these
rooms, 3rd December 1986, lot 18; another was exhibited in Chinesische Kunst, Preussische Akademie de Künste, Berlin, 1929,
cat. no. 9; one, from the Kunstindustrimuseum, Copenhagen, was included in The Exhibition of Early Chinese Bronzes, Museum of
Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockhom, 1933, cat. no. XX; another in the Pillsbury Collection, is published in Bernhard Karlgren, A
Catalogue of Chinese Bronzes in the Alfred F. Pillsbury Collection, Minneapolis, 1952, pl. 105; and a fifth example sold in our London
rooms, 13th-14th November 1972, lot 230.

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