Page 222 - 2020 Sept Important Chinese Art Sotheby's NYC Asia Week

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

Impo rtant Chinese Art
New York |23 Sep 2020 | 09:00 AM EDT

Lot 648

AN EXTREMELY RARE AND LARGE PAIR OF BRONZE FIGUR ES OF DAOIST OFFICIALS, MING
DYNASTY, 16TH / 17TH CENTURY
Estimate: 400,000 - 600,000 USD

AN EXTREMELY RARE AND LARGE PAIR OF BRONZE FIGURES OF DAOIST OFFICIALS
MING DYNASTY, 16TH / 17TH CENTURY
明十六 / 十七世紀 銅文官立像一對

each finely cast as a heavenly official, standing with hands clasped together in front of the chest, wearing voluminous robes, the
courtly garment secured with a belt defined in high relief at the back suspending a grid of knotted silk cords securing a pair of bi
discs, strands of tessellated beads at the sides, and in the front a long fluttering sash elegantly tied with a looping knot, the
pleated garment with borders intricately chased with scrolling foliate and ruyi over ruyi-toed shoes, the full face with a benevolent
expression and a long, neatly tapering beard beneath a modest smile, one figure gazing intently frontward, the other with eyes
contemplatively downcast, the head surmounted by a ridged cap with a tall foliate-incised backflap and a band in the front
depicting a three-peaked mountain flanked by the sun and moon, secured by a hairpin and trailing cords that fall behind the ears
crossing at the neck above a lock-form pendant, all raised on a stepped rectangular base with a cusped ruyi-motif in low relief on
the apron, traces of gilding, the patina a silvery greenish-gray (2)

Height of figures 68 in., 172.7 cm

Provenance
Collection of Vilhelm Meyer (1878-1934).
Collection of William Boyce Thompson (1869-1930), acquired in Beijing, 1917, and thence by descent.

來源

https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/important-chinese-art?locale=en 222/435