Page 264 - Bonhams Cornette Saint Cyr, Property from the estate of Jean-Pierre Rousset (1936-2021)

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VASE COUVERT TRIPODE EN BRONZE DORÉ À DÉCOR INCISÉ
DE SCÈNE DE CHASSE ET D’ANIMAUX FANTASTIQUES, LIAN
Dynastie des Han occidentaux (206 av. J.-C. - 9 ap. J.-C.)
A VERY RARE GILT-BRONZE INCISED ‘HUNTING SCENE’ TRIPOD
CONTAINER AND COVER, LIAN
Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-9 AD)
The cylindrical vessel raised on three kneeling bear supports, divided
into registers by three bowstrings, variously decorated around the
sides with an intricate incised designs of lappets and scrollwork with
a scene of a man wielding a spear hunting a mythical beast, flanked
with a pair of taotie-mask and ring handles, the cover with an external
border decorated with a similar hunting scene, around the internal
medallion with lappets alternating with six animals including an owl and
a toad around a four lappets encircling an aperture.
23.5cm (9 2/8in) diam. x 23.5cm (9 2/8in) high. (2).

€30,000 - 50,000 (detail)

Provenance:
Robert Rousset, Paris (1901-1981), acquired prior to 1935
Jean-Pierre Rousset, Paris (1936-2021)

Cast as a miniature ‘mountain’ decorated with spear-armed men The animals populating the mythical mountain depicted on the present
hunting mythical beasts, the present vessel was once entirely gilt and vessel were probably inspired by the mythical creatures inhabiting the
thus particularly precious. Although the shape is probably inspired by wondrous realms described in the Shanghai Jing (Classic of Mountains
ritual wine containers, zun, produced during the Warring States period and Seas), the Huainanzi, compiled sometime before 139 BC, and the
(475-221 BC), the vessel could have been used also as a cosmetic Zhuangzi (Master Zhuang) of the late Warring States period (476-221
box or in the ritual context, may have acted as a visual aid for the tomb BC). It is also quite possible that the animals may have been inspired
occupant to envision the mythical Immortal land of Penglai which they by those involved in the imperial hunts that were carefully staged in
were hoped to reach in their afterlife. the royal parks during the Han dynasty. The Han emperors had an
unprecedented passion for building brilliant parks of great size where
According to the Classic of Mountains and Seas, Shanhai Jing, likely the rulers staged symbolical conquests of the natural world through
compiled during the 4th century BC, Penglai was one of the Immortal ritual hunts and animal combats. See E.H.Schafer, ‘Hunting Parks and
islands located in the Eastern Bohai sea, which vanished from sight Animal Enclosures in ancient China’, in Journal of the Economic and
as voyagers glimpsed them and hoped to land on them in their search Social History of the Orient, 1968, vol.11, no.3, pp.318-343.
of Immortality-granting elixirs. These islands were defined by high
mountains dotted with caves where Immortals were thought to live. The taotie mask designs decorating the ring handles and the three
bears shaping the feet were probably aimed at protecting the
Based on the Daoist idea of a peaked island, the miniature landscape deceased against the evil influences they may encounter in their
presented on this vessel may have represented the deceased’s journey afterlife. Although the actual significance of the taotie motif is still the
through a winding obstacle-laden landscape, in search of the elixir of subjects of extensive academic research, it is mentioned in the ‘Spring
eternal life. “(..) Having transcended sacred mountains, one will gain and Autumn Rituals’ as bodiless monster swallowing hostile tribes.
supernatural powers, controlling the wind and rain, and finally reach to By the same token, the ‘Classics of Mountains and Seas’ praises the
Heaven, the Abode of the Celestial Emperor”, mentions the ‘Masters bear for its bravery and refers to the creature as the gate guardian
from Huainan’, Huainanzi, in the 2nd century BC. See A.G.Wenley, of the mythical mountains invoked by Daoists. See D.Jenkins (et al.),
‘The Question of the Po-Shan-Hsiang-Lu’, in Archives of the Chinese Mysterious Spirits, Strange Beasts, Earthly Delights: Early Chinese
Art Society of America, no.3, 1948, pp.5-12. Art from the Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Collection, Portland, 2005,
pp.34-35.
Mountains were highly regarded in China as primary components of
the universe, because of their ability to produce water, the life-giving Compare a closely related gilt openwork lian and cover, Han dynasty,
element, from the clouds swirling around them. They were linked in the Cleveland Museum of Art (Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1972.44);
with a profound interest in meeting the Immortal spirits inhabiting see also a related gilt and silver bronze example, Han dynasty, in the
their naturally high peaks, which provided the closest connection Minneapolis Institute of Art (acc.no.50.46.49a,b).
with heaven. From at least the time of emperor Wudi (r.141-87 BC),
the mountains located on the Immortal islands in the Eastern Sea A related bronze un-gilt and plain lian and cover, Han dynasty, with
were thought to be reached in two ways, wither during one’s earthly tiger supports and ram finials, was sold at Sotheby’s New York,
lifespan, through the ingestion of magical potions, or following one’s 22 March 2011, lot 195.
death, through the preservation of the body and soul in the burial.
See J.Rawson, Mysteries of Ancient China: New Discoveries From
the Early Dynasties, London, 1996, pp.172-173; see also S.Erickson,
‘Boshanlu: Mountain Censer of the Western Han Period: A Typological
and Iconographical Analysis’, in Archives of Asian Art, 1992, vol.45,
pp.6-28.

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