Page 39 - J.J. Lally Chinese Art CHRISTIE'S March 23 2023 NYC

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)

36 37