Page 20 - Bonhams May 2022 Arrow Vases

Chinese Arrow Vases | 中國投壺

Rose Kerr | 柯玫瑰

It was Brian Harkins who kindled the interest of the scholar Isabelle certain common elements occur. Overall decorative patterning tends
Lee in arrow vases, and it was this interest that led her to publish a to consist of components derived from archaic bronze design, such
seminal article on the subject in 1993. Thus it is fitting that Brian’s as bands of squared spirals called leiwen雷紋 “thunder pattern” and
1
collection of these noble vessels is for sale here. taotie 饕餮monster masks. This is similar to the ornamentation of
Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasty archaistic bronzes.
Arrow vases are not just ornamental, they are made for use in a game
called touhu投壺 in Chinese, that can be translated as “pitchpot”. The Three-dimensional figural decoration was an established part of touhu
game consisted of throwing arrows, rods or darts into the neck and design typology by the sixteenth century. An early seventeenth century
hollow loop handles of a sturdy pot, from a set distance. It probably book called San cai tu hui 三才圖會(Collected Illustrations of the Three
originated in the distant past as a game played by soldiers to while Realms), which was probably the most influential woodblock-printed
away the time, by pitching arrows into an empty wine jar. Touhu work of its kind, illustrates a selection of twenty arrow vases, one of
was played both by ordinary people and by the élite, and enjoyed a which portrays a dancer perched on one foot and supporting three
much higher status than the Western game of darts. Before the Han cylindrical tubes on his head. The Harkins collection includes vases
9
2
dynasty (pre 206 BC) the contest was played at banquets attended by decorated with auspicious figures, some associated with Daoism.
noble persons, possibly as a substitute for archery competitions, as is One further association with arrow vases should be noted, namely
recorded in the historical text Zuo zhuan 左傳(The Commentary of Zuo) their erotic dimension. In chapter 27 of the seventeenth-century novel
that was compiled prior to 389 BC. 3 Jin ping mei 金瓶梅 (The Plum in the Golden Vase) the chief character
Ximen Qing and his concubine play pitchpot while drinking until
The oldest extant arrow vase excavated in China dates to the Western inebriated, whereupon the lovers imitate the arrow game in amorous
Han dynasty, and does not have handles. A Tang dynasty example play. Thus even the dignified game of touhu can be seen to have
10
with bevelled handles is housed in the Shōsōin Treasury in Nara, for suggestive undertones.
the pitchpot game was carried to Japan in the early eighth century. By
the Song dynasty arrow vases had gained their stereotypical form with
wide handles at the top of a straight neck, a shape that was to persist
down to the Qing dynasty. That shape is similar to another style of 1. Isabelle Lee, “Touhu: Three Millenia of the Chinese Arrow Vase and
bottle with lug handles, known in both metal and ceramics. One such
vessel was retrieved from the cargo of a ship that sank around the the Game of Pitch-Pot”, Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society,
year 1323 off the south coast of Korea, en route from China to Japan. Volume 56, 1991-1992 (London, 1993), pp.13-27. The credit to Brian
4
Indeed, it is likely that throughout history any stable bottle with long Harkins is on p.27.
neck would have served the game, if proponents did not possess a 2. Virginia Bower and Colin Mackenzie, “Pitchpot: The Scholar’s
specific arrow vase. During the Yuan dynasty the proportions of arrow
vases changed slightly to provide stability, with the body becoming Arrow-Throwing Game”, in Asian Games. The Art of Conquest (Asia
more squat and the neck longer and the lug handles aligned across Society, New York, 2004), pp.275-281.
the top of the rim. 3. Richard C. Rudolph, “The antiquity of t’ou hu”, Antiquity, Volume 23,

But it was in the Ming and Qing dynasties that the arrow game came Issue 96 (December 1950), pp.175-178.
into its own, its use extending across the land from the emperor 4.The Metal Crafts in Shinan Wreck (National Museum of Korea, Seoul,
down to the common people. By the mid-Ming period printed books 2007), pp.89-93.
circulated throughout society, among them works on the arrow game, 5. Donatella Failla, Food For The Ancestors, Flowers For The Gods
such as that by Wang Ti 汪禔 (1490-1530) called Touhu yijie 投壺 (Museo d’Arte Orientale Edoardo Chiossone, SAGEP Edition, Genoa,
儀節 (Ceremonial Uses and Rules of Touhu). This illustrated work
described ten different pitching techniques for players in great detail, 2019), p.240.
and its author used the arrow game in the education of his pupils. 6. A cast iron arrow vase in the Victoria and Albert Museum is
5
The popularity of the sport led to the manufacture of a wide variety illustrated in Rose Kerr, Later Chinese Bronzes (Bamboo Publishing Ltd
of vases, that survive in museum and private collections all over the in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1990), pp.48-49,
world. The vessels sometimes have multiple handles and mouths,
reflecting the game’s increasing popularity and complexity. Most are pl.39.
cast in bronze, though they do also occur in cast iron. Moreover, 7. Michel Maucuer, Bronzes de la Chine impériale des Song aux Qing
6
arrow vases have recently been recognised as significant items within (Musée Cernuschi, Paris, 2013), pp.150-151, pls.102,103.
collections. 7 8. For example, Donatella Failla, op.cit., p.240, pls.11.1, 11.2. Philip K.

Because arrow vases were made for a wide clientèle, their decoration Hu, Later Chinese Bronzes. The Saint Louis Art Museum and Robert E.
was extremely varied and often included auspicious elements. For Kresko Collection (Saint Louis Art Museum, 2008), pp.36-41, pl.5.
example, three-dimensional dragons are shown crawling across the 9. Philip K. Hu, op.cit., p.76.
surface and twining round the neck of vessels, as is the case in vases 10. Isabelle Lee, op.cit., p. Virginia Bower and Colin Mackenzie,
in the Harkins collection and in pieces in museums. Buddhist lions
8
were also popular, as were Daoist figures and trigrams. The design op.cit., p.279.
of each arrow vase I have come across seems to be unique, though

18 | BONHAMS