Page 236 - Bonhams Asian and Chinese Art London Nov. 2019

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AN ARCHAIC BRONZE RITUAL TRIPOD TWO SILVER AND GOLD INLAID A GROUP OF FIVE BRONZE MIRRORS
VESSEL, JIA BRONZE FITTINGS AND A MINIATURE Han Dynasty and later
Late Shang/early Western Zhou Dynasty VASE Comprising a ‘TLV’ mirror with mythical
The bulbous vessel divided into three lobes Warring States and later animals amidst foliate scrolls, Han Dynasty,
each tapering to a straight leg, simplistically Comprising: a fitting of slender hexagonal 14cm (5 1/2in) diam; a small circular mirror
cast with zigzagging bowstrings, flanked with form, with baluster finial and flaring trumpet with archaic characters, Han Dynasty,
a buffalo head issuing a loop handle, rising to terminal, decorated with a central chevron 10cm (4in) diam; a mirror with inscription
a flaring rim set with two staves with domed design within scrollwork borders; a silver in a rectangular cartouche, probably Tang
caps. inlaid bronze chariot fitting decorated or Song Dynasty, 14.7cm (5 3/4in) diam; a
23cm (9in) high with stylised bird and animal motifs; and mirror with mythical beasts and four raised
a miniature baluster form vase with twin bosses surrounded by saw-tooth band, Han
£2,500 - 4,000 phoenix head handles, decorated with Dynasty, 12.5cm (4 7/8in) diam, each with
HK$24,000 - 39,000 scrolling designs and stylised bird head fitted box; the fifth with a raised central knob
CNY22,000 - 35,000 motifs. The chariot fitting 16.2cm (6.3/8in) enclosed within four petals and a square
long. (3). lined by archaic characters, the outer field
Provenance interspersed with TLV motifs and the Four
Christie’s, 4 December 1995, lot 34 £2,000 - 3,000 Spirit Animals amidst classic scrolls, the
HK$20,000 - 29,000 bronze with a silvery-grey patina. 18.5cm (7
The present rare lobed jia is a direct CNY18,000 - 27,000 1/4in) diam. (9).
continuation of the tripod wine vessel form,
elements of which can be seen as early Provenance £1,000 - 2,000
as the late Xia period, 18th-16th century a British private collection formed prior to HK$9,800 - 20,000
BC, continuing until the middle Western 2004. CNY8,900 - 18,000
Zhou period. Towards the end of the Shang
Dynasty the jia had developed the li-shaped Compare the first fitting with an example sold Provenance
body with a tri-lobed form, as seen on the at Christie’s New York, 19-20 September a European private collection
present lot, which then continued onto 2013, lot 1501.
the Western Zhou period; see C. Deydier,
Archaic Chinese Bronzes, I, Xia & Shang,
Paris, 1995, pp.237, 239.

Compare two very similar bronze lobed
tripod vessels, jia, the first in the Arthur M.
Sackler Collections and the second, the
Mu Gui jia, said to be from Anyang, in the
Shanghai Museum, illustrated by R.W.Bagley,
Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M.
Sackler Collections, Cambridge, Mass.,
1987, pp.172-173 and 175, fig.10.2.

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234 | BONHAMS please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.