Page 43 - J.J. Lally Chinese Art CHRISTIE'S March 23 2023 NYC

810 A SMALL BRONZE JAR AND COVER 唐ǭ銅弦紋小蓋罐
TANG DYNASTY (AD 618-907)
The ovoid jar has a flat base and the high shoulders are cast with Ϝ源
three double lines. The slightly domed cover has matching double 藍理捷
紐約
編號
line bands and is surmounted by a bud finial. Both have a scattered
reddish-brown patina with areas of malachite encrustation.
3 in. (7.6 cm.) high, cloth box
$5,000-7,000

PROVENANCE:
J. J. Lally & Co., New York, no. 4623.
A similar small bronze jar of this form, without a cover, in
the collection of KubosĿ Memorial Museum of Art, Izumi, is
illustrated in Chugoku no kyįdį: rokuro hiki no seidįki (Tin-Bronze
of China: Bronzes of the Potter’s Wheel), Osaka, 1999, p. 45,
no. 88.

809 A GROUP OF FIVE BRONZE COINS 新莽及唐ǭ銅錢一組Ն։
XIN DYNASTY (AD 9-24) AND TANG DYNASTY (AD 618-907)
The knife coin, Xin dynasty (AD 9-24), is inscribed on one side with Ϝ源
an inscription that reads yi dao ping wu qian (one knife is worth five 年入藏於香港
thousand), with the first two characters inlaid in gold on the circular 藍理捷
紐約
編號 *及 #
ring and the other three characters cast on the ‘blade’. Each circular
coin, Tang dynasty (AD 618-907), is cast on one side with four
characters surrounding the square central aperture reading kai yuan
tong bao (circulating treasure from the inauguration of a new epoch).
Knife coin: 3 in. (7.6 cm.) long, cloth box
Each circular coin: 1 in. (2.5 cm.) diam. (5)
$1,500-2,000
PROVENANCE:
Acquired in Hong Kong, 1997.
J. J. Lally & Co., New York, nos. 2514I and 2513B.

A similar gold-inlaid bronze ‘knife coin’ with the same inscription, The circular coins with characters reading kai yuan tong bao were
excavated in 1983 from Guyuan, Ningxia province, is illustrated issued by Emperor Gaozu (r. AD 618-626) on the fourth year of
in Zhongguo wenwu jinghua daquan: jin, yin, yu, shi juan (The Wude (corresponding to AD 621) to commemorate the founding
Compendium of Chinese Art: Gold, Silver, Jade and Stones), of the Tang dynasty. This currency was widely circulated
Hong Kong, 1994, no. 027. Another coin of this ‘knife’ type in throughout the Tang and minted in large quantities by both the
the Shaanxi History Museum is illustrated by Li (ed.) in Shaanxi government and non-government agencies, resulting in a variety
qingtong qi (The Shaanxi Bronzes), Xi'an, 1994, p. 341, no. 304, and of casting details. Similar bronze coins from the Tang dynasty
again by Zheng Wenlei (ed.) in A Journey into China's Antiquity, cemetery at Xingyuan village, Yanshi city, Henan province, are
vol. 2, Beijing, 1997, p. 128, no. 143. illustrated in Yanshi Xingyuan Tang mu (The Tang Tombs in Yanshi
Xingyuan), Beijing, 2001, p. 233, pl. 225, and described in detail
on pp. 232-34 with an outline of their characteristics as basis for
dating and attribution.

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