Page 91 - Bonhams May 2022 Arrow Vases

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A LARGE PARCEL-GILT-BRONZE HEXAGONAL ARROW VASE,
TOUHU
Ming Dynasty
Robustly cast of hexagonal section and partially gilt, with compressed
globular body raised on a tiered spreading foot decorated with
archaistic pendent lappets, the body divided by six flanges separating
panels cast in medium relief with mythical beasts above crashing
waves, the tall slender neck decorated with wan-pattern ground and
applied with two clambering chilong, all beneath a wide band with two
archaistic taotie masks flanked by hollow hexagonal tube handles.
50cm (19 3/4in) high, 6.2kg.

HKD100,000 - 150,000
US$13,000 - 19,000

明 銅局部鎏金螭龍奔獸紋六方雙貫耳投壺
Provenance:
Jeremy Mason, London, 9 November 1989
The Brian Harkins Collection

來源：
1989年11月9日購於倫敦古董商Jeremy Mason
布萊恩·哈金斯珍藏
The running animal motifs delicately cast on the vase are qilin, rabbit,
deer, lion, rhinoceros, and horse. Compare a bronze arrow vase with
similar animal motifs, Ming dynasty, in the Hunan Provincial Museum,
which is illustrated by Chen Jianming, Fuxing De Tongqi Yishu: Hunan
Wanqi Tongqi Zhan, Beijing, 2013, pp.210-211. Such running animal
motifs are more often seen on the porcelain during the Xuande period
and grew in popularity from the Zhengtong period onwards. Some
scholars believe that these auspicious motifs symbolise the blessing
for peace, as a response to the unstable political environment and
the prevailing natural disasters of the time. For a related discussion,
see Wang Jianxin, 'Lue Lun Ming Zhengtong, Jingtai, Tianshun Ciqi
Ji Xiangguan Wenti', in Zhuo Shuo Chong Xian: 15 Shiji Zhongqi
Jingdezhen Ciqi Teji, Shanghai, 2019, pp.27-37.
Compare also with a related parcel-gilt bronze arrow vase, late Ming
dynasty, decorated with closely related taotie mask on the top section
of the neck and scattered areas of gilding, illustrated by D.Failla,
Food for the Ancestors, Flowers for the Gods, Genova, 2017, p.240,
fig.11.1.

壺六方，口方唇，兩側鑄貫耳，壺口鏨刻饕餮紋，貫耳以卍字紋為錦
地，頸部上下各兩匝弦紋，最下一層飾饕餮紋一周，其上皆飾卍字錦
地，上段分鑄兩條螭龍首尾相逐，龍躬身成鋬，肩分六格，其內飾卍
字錦地，邊框鎏金，腹部出六戟，每面卍字錦地上鑄浮雕山巒奔獸，
束腰飾蕉葉紋一周。
此壺銅料精實，線條硬朗。腹部所鑄奔獸頗生動細緻，計有：麒麟、
兔、鹿、獅、犀牛、馬。比較湖南省博物館藏一件明代動物紋投壺，
見陳建明編，《復興的銅器藝術—湖南晚期銅器展》，北京，2013
年，頁210-211。此類奔獸紋多見於明代宣德瓷器，正統年間又更流
行，有學者認為可能與當時的社會政治以及災異有關。正統時期蒙古
瓦剌大軍不斷擾邊，華北及山東旱災瘟疫流行，東南又有農民起義，
皇帝便希望借各種祥瑞圖騰，祈求天下太平。相關討論見汪建新撰，
《略論明正統、景泰、天順瓷器及相關問題》，載於《灼爍重現：
15世紀中期景德鎮瓷器特輯》，上海，2019年，頁27-37。
局部鎏金之例可參考意大利熱那亞國立愛德華多·基歐索尼東方藝術
博物館所藏一件明代銅局部鎏金投壺，見D.Failla，《Food for the
Ancestors Flowers for the Gods》，熱那亞，2017年，頁240，
編號11.1。

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