Page 38 - J.J. Lally Chinese Art CHRISTIE'S March 23 2023 NYC
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807 A RARE CRYSTAL-INLAID RED AND                            西漢ǭ彩漆雲氣紋匕
                                                                                                                                                   BLACK LACQUERED RITUAL SPOON, BI
                                                                                                                                                   WESTERN HAN DYNASTY (206 BC-AD 9)
                                                                                                                                                   The spoon has a long slender handle and a flat ovoid bowl centered   Ϝ源
                                                                                                                                                   with a faceted rock crystal insert. It is decorated on the handle and       年入藏於香港
                                                                                                                                                   on the reverse of the bowl with red scrollwork painted on a dark   藍理捷
 紐約
 編號
                                                                                                                                                   brownish-black lacquer ground.
                                                                                                                                                   10º in. (26 cm.) long, composite stand, plexiglass case
                                                                                                                                                   $6,000-8,000
                                                                                                                                                   PROVENANCE:
                                                                                                                                                   Acquired in Hong Kong, 1995.
                                                                                                                                                   J. J. Lally & Co., New York, no. 2120.

                                                                                                                                                   A similarly decorated lacquer ritual spoon of closely related form
                                                                                                                                                   but without a rock crystal insert was discovered at the Qin State
                                                                                                                                                   cemetery in Shuihudi, Yunmeng, Hubei province, and is illustrated
                                                                                                                                                   in Yunmeng Shuihudi Qin mu (Qin Tombs in Shuihudi, Yunmeng
                                                                                                                                                   County), Beijing, 1981, pl. 17, no. 2 and in a line drawing on p. 33,
                                                                                                                                                   pl. 34.

                                                                                                                                                   Archaeologists and scholars today refer to this form of long-
                                                                                                                                                   handled spoon as a bi. According to the Eastern Han dynasty
                                                                                                                                                   historian Zheng Xuan (AD 127-200) in his commentary
                                                                                                                                                   on ancient rituals, the bi was used to handle and divide food
                                                                                                                                                   during ceremonies.

        806 A RED AND BLACK LACQUERED-                              戰國ǭ公元前四至Ӳ世紀前後ǭ漆耳盃
               WOOD ‘EAR CUP’, ER BEI
               WARRING STATES PERIOD, CIRCA 4TH–3RD CENTURY BC      Ϝ源
                                                                        年入藏於香港
               The elliptical cup rests on a flat base, with the deep rounded sides
                                                                    藍理捷
 紐約
 編號    $
               rising to a thin lip and flanked by a pair of ‘butterfly-wing’ shaped
               ears decorated with zig-zag patterns on top and spiral motifs on the
               sides. The decorations are painted in red and black, the lower sides
               and base are lacquered in black, and the interior is lacquered red.
               6√ in. (17.5 cm.) long, cloth box
               $8,000-12,000
               PROVENANCE:
               Acquired in Hong Kong, 1995.
               J. J. Lally & Co., New York, no. 2113C.
               A very similar lacquered wood ear cup (er bei), was discovered
               in 1965 in tomb no. 1 in the Warring States cemetery at
               Wangshan, Jiangling, Hubei province, and is illustrated in Hubei
               chutu Zhanguo Qin Han qiqi (Lacquerware from the Warring
               States to the Han Periods Excavated in Hubei Province), Hong
               Kong, 1994, no. 3. The same ear cup is illustrated again in the
               excavation report, Jiangling Wangshan Shazhong Chu mu (Chu
               Tombs at Wangshan and Shazhong, Jiangling), Beijing, 1996,
               col. pl. 3, no. 1, together with another very similar example
               from tomb no. 2 at Wangshan, illustrated in pl. 76, no. 3.





                                                                                         (another view)                                                                                                                            (detail)

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