Page 24 - Bonhams May 2022 Arrow Vases

Fig.4 Type III-A Lot 16 Fig.5 Type III-B Lot 36 Fig.6 Type III-C Lot 5
圖四 III-A式 Lot 16 圖五 III-B式 Lot 36 圖六 III-C式 Lot 5

on bronze wares of the Song dynasty. Sui Weimin's Essence of the which are generally described as archaistic scrolls pattern among
Pillow illustrated a Five Dynasties period qingbai glazed pillow with Chinese scholars. It is almost only found on bronzes from the Southern
two geckos on the pillow walls; the lizard form and age of this pillow is Song and Yuan dynasty. There are many pieces of Song and Yuan
close to this Lot. (fig.7.1) bronze wares unearthed and in the public museums decorated
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with this ‘pankui’ pattern, such as an archaistic bronze vessel, hu,
TYPE II: Chi dragon with bulging belly, short body and short tail, a few excavated in Huzhou, Zhejiang (fig.11). Apart from Lot 5 which might
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examples have stripes be dated to the early Ming dynasty, another Ming dynasty example
with this type of pattern has not been found by the author.
Lot 4 (12 – 13 century, fig.8), Lot 10 (Song/Yuan), Lot 11 (Song/
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Yuan), Lot 18 (Yuan), Lot 24 (Yuan), Lot 27 (Yuan/Ming), Lot 35 (Yuan/ This kind of scrolling kui dragon pattern was stylised from the Shang
Ming). and Zhou dynasty bronze vessels which were then copied in the Song
Dynasty. Emperor Song Huizong compiled the Xuanhe bogu tulu in the
TYPE III Chi dragon with slender boy and long tail, a few examples fifth year of Xuanhe (1123 AD), which illustrated the Shang and Zhou
have scales. dynasty bronzes in the Court and later became a design reference for
craftsmen in from Southern Song to Ming dynasties. The Zhida (1308-
Lot 5 (Yuan/Ming), Lot 28 (14 / 15 century), Lot 36 (Ming), Lot 37 1311) edition of the Xuanhe bogu tulu illustrated a bronze ding vessel
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(Ming, fig.9), Lot 46 (Ming), Lot 47 (Ming), Lot 51 (Ming). with a pattern that is very similar to the those depicted on the Lots
above (fig.14). 14
TYPE IV, Chi dragon with whiskers in the form of ruyi scrolls
3. Quatrefoil or Persimmon Sepals Pattern
Lot 17 (Yuan), Lot 39 (Ming), Lot 45 (Ming, fig.10).
TYPE I: Lot 22 (Song/Yuan, fig.15), Lot 23 (Yuan), Lot 24 (Yuan,
The above categories show the characteristics of chilong on bronze fig.16), Lot 25 (Ming), Lot 44 (Ming)
wares in the Song and Yuan dynasties (TYPE II), that is, stocky torso
with a short tail, and several cases of chi dragons are more engraved Some of the arrow vases in the Brian Harkins collection have a motif
with long and horizontal stripes, such as Lot 4 and Lot 10, and are that does not appear to have been much researched in the context
more characteristic of archaic chi dragons and chi tigers from the of later bronze vessels, that is, the quatrefoil pattern in relief on the
Spring and Autumn period to Han dynasty. The chilong pattern in shoulders, which is called ‘shidi wen’, persimmon sepals pattern by
the Ming dynasty is even more slender (TYPE III), and there are also Chinese scholars. The persimmon sepals pattern appeared in the
engraved scale patterns on the body: the characteristics of it being a Spring and Autumn Period and was popular in the Han dynasty. It can
dragon are more obvious. Another characteristic of the chilong in the commonly be seen on bronze mirrors, bottles, jades, lacquer, bricks
Ming dynasty is that some examples of the beards and whiskers are and other handicrafts, such as a gilt-bronze wine vessel, zun, later
coiled into a cloud-like shape. The interesting thing about this kind Western Han, in the Shannxi Provincial Museum, which is decorated
of style is that although the chilong with this kind of whiskers is rare with a similar pattern on the lid (fig.17). Interestingly, It is not common
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in the Song and Yuan dynasties arrow vases, it is often seen on gold from the end of the Han dynasty to the Tang dynasty. After the
or silver drinking wares. See for example, a Southern Song dynasty Southern Song dynasty, it seems to reappear. The author has not yet
dragon pattern silver cup unearthed in Pengzhou, Sichuan Province ; seen other bronze wares also decorated with this design. Judging from
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and a golden cup, Southern Song dynasty, unearthed from Guizhou the time when this type of decoration was popular, it seems to have
Province, with a dragon and young. 12 been mainly used in the Yuan and Ming dynasties. A Southern Song
dynasty silver gilt Kuixing plate, unearthed in Jiangxi Province, has a
2. Coiling Kui pattern shape similar to this four-petal persimmon leaf, which may serve as an
early prototype of persimmon leaf patterns. During the Yuan dynasty,
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TYPE I : Lot 2 (12 – 13 century, fig.12), Lot 3 (12 – 13 century), women's clothing, especially on the shoulders, were decorated with
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Lot 4 (12 – 13 century, fig.13), Lot 5 (Yuan/Ming). a type of cloud pattern, with four leaves at the front and back, similar
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to persimmon sepals. See for example, the shoulders of a lady in
The Brian Harkins’ arrow vases have three examples of being the anonymous painting ‘Plum in the Moonlight’, Yuan dynasty in the
decorated with a so called ‘pankui’ pattern or (‘coiled kui dragon’)
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