Page 8 - Liesurely Life Fine Objects Christies Hong Kong May 2018

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PROPERTY FROM A EUROPEAN PRIVATE COLLECTION
2901
A RARE SILVERY BRONZE KUNDIKA AND COVER A porcelaneous version of a kundika with elephant-head spout dated
SUI-EARLY TANG DYNASTY, 7TH CENTURY to the Sui dynasty, covered with a now crackled glaze and with more
bulbous body is illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji; Gongyi meishu
The plain ovoid body raised on a flared shallow foot ring and bian; Taoci (The Great Treasury of Chinese Fine Arts; Arts and Crafts;
surmounted by a tall, slender, slightly waisted neck rising to an Ceramics), Shanghai, 1988, vol. 2, p. 14, no. 16. Another clear-glazed
everted mouth rim, the shoulder applied with an elephant head white porcelaneous kundika with cup-shaped mouth on the spout and a
with raised trunk and open mouth masking a small aperture in the tall tapering nozzle similar to that of the present example, but also with
body, the cover cast in relief with a band of petals encircling the a more bulbous body, was included in the exhibition, The Arts of the
T’ang Dynasty, no. 238.
base of the nozzle-shaped finial or spout, the pale silvery body with
some cloudy patina and ferrous encrustation. See, also, a related silvery bronze kundika of different body shape and
9 Ω in. (24.2 cm.) high with a human-head cast at the base of the spout, which was sold at
Sotheby’s London, 6 June 1995, lot 86.
HK$400,000-600,000 US$52,000-77,000
隋／初唐 響銅象首瓶
PROVENANCE
Sold at Christie’s New York, 21 March 2000, lot 187 來源
A very similar bronze vessel of this very rare type, also with elephant- 紐約佳士得，2000年3月21日，拍品187號
head spout, but apparently missing its separate nozzle, and shown
standing on a bronze circular dish is illustrated in Ceramic Art of the
World, Sui and T’ang Dynasties, Tokyo, 1976, vol. 11, p. 291, fig. 122.
A bronze bottle of this shape, but without spout, was included in the
exhibition, The Arts of the T’ang Dynasty, Los Angeles County Museum,
8 January - 17 February 1957, no. 113. The same shape can be seen in
two glazed pottery bottles also illustrated in Ceramic Art of the World,
p. 291, figs. 123 and 124.

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