Page 72 - Bonhams May 2022 Arrow Vases

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A LARGE AND RARE BRONZE 'CASH' SIX-
TUBED ARROW VASE, TOUHU
Yuan/Ming Dynasty
The compressed globular body pierced with
four coin-shaped motifs divided by projecting
flanges, the tall cylindrical neck encircled by six
tubular lug handles each cast with characters
representing the Six Arts in relief on a leiwen
ground, its mid-section similarly pierced with a
pair of three overlapping coins between raised
bow-strings above pendent cicada blades also
around the splayed and stepped foot, the dark
reddish-brown patina with some greenish and
ochre mottling.
51cm (20 1/8in) high, 8.2kg.

HKD180,000 - 240,000
US$23,000 - 31,000

元/明 銅六藝鏤空錢紋投壺
Provenance:
Phillips, London, 16 December 1993
The Brian Harkins Collection

來源：
倫敦富藝斯，1993年12月16日
布萊恩·哈金斯珍藏

Bronze arrow vases cast with the 'six ac-
complishments' or liuyi are very rare. The six
characters cast on the vase refer to the six
accomplishments that a Confucian scholar
should learn as defined in the chapter 'Baoshi' (
保氏Grand Guardian), 'Diguran' (地官 Official of
Earth) in the book Zhouli (周禮Zhou rituals) from
the Zhou dynasty. They include the five rituals,
six types of music, five skills of archery, five skills
in steering the chariot, six methods of writing,
and the nine methods of arithmetic. It may seem
unusual that a vase used to play a game should
be endowed with such serious accomplish-
ments, but scholars in the Song dynasty such
as Si Maguang, conceived of the arrow vase
as an instrument for cultivating the moral self
by introducing the norms of Confucianism into
the game. The throwing of arrows into a vase
was seen as related to archery - one of the six
arts - and was not so much a game to be won
or lost, but a vehicle for complex ritual. See
a related discussion by Wang Ti, mentioning
that the game could revive the spirit of ancient
Confucian rituals and bring us joy in Touhu Yijie,
Beijing, 1985, pp.3-4. Playing a game with arrow
vases was not a frivolous occasion but a serious
and solemn affair involving complex rules and
Confucian rituals of behaviour. For example, if
play is between two people, they each have
a number of arrows; the senior can place his
on the ground, something the younger should
not do out of deference. If the junior wins the
game, he cannot ask the senior player to kneel,
but expect him only to raise his wine cup. If the
senior drinks, it has to be from a rhinoceros horn
cup, but the younger can only use a jue etc.
In this way, the game is more concerned with
Confucian ritual and etiquette than winning or
losing. See G.Tsang and H.Moss, Arts from the
Scholar's Studio, Hong Kong, 1986, p.268.

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