Page 56 - Fine Chinese Art Bonhams London May 2018

40

40 *
TWO PAIRS OF BRONZE ‘TAOTIE MASK’ The inclusion of a human figure in this design
DOOR RING HANDLES, PUSHOU is very unusual. See a bronze ring handle with
Han Dynasty a related human-form decoration, excavated
Cast in the form of a taotie mask showing in 1968 at Mancheng, Hebei Province, from
defined rounded eyes, with elongated beaks the tomb of Liu Sheng (d.113 BC) in the Hebei
curled at the end forming a hollow ring, further Provincial Museum which was illustrated in
suspending loose circular ring handles, stands the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition
catalogue Age of Empires: Chinese Art of the
and boxes. The largest 28cm (11in) long. (10). Qin and Han Dynasties (221 B.C.-A.D. 220),
New York, 2017, pp.184-185, no.103.
£3,500 - 5,500
CNY31,000 - 49,000 A similar pair of gilt-bronze ring handles,
Warring States/ Han dynasty, was sold at
Bonhams New York, 30 October 2017, lot 44.
漢 青銅鋪首銜環 一組兩對

Provenance: The Mengdiexuan Collection 42 *
A SET OF FIVE ARCHAIC BRONZE
40 來源： 香港夢蝶軒收藏 ‘TAOTIE MASK’ RING HANDLES, PUSHOU
Eastern Zhou Dynasty
41 * Each well cast in the form of a taotie mask
with bulging eyes, the masks’ elongated
A RARE PAIR OF GILT-BRONZE ‘TAOTIE beak curled at the end forming a hollow ring,
AND FIGURE’ DOOR HANDLES, PUSHOU suspending a thick circular ring handle, box.
Warring States Period/Han Dynasty Each 12.7cm (5in) long. (6).
Each handle finely cast in the form of a taotie
mask with rounded eyes, surmounted by a
smiling humanoid figure with muscular arms £3,000 - 5,000
and chest, the masks’ elongated beaks curled CNY27,000 - 45,000
at the end forming a hook to suspend the flat
ring handles, box. The handles 12.5cm (4 3/4in)
wide; the rings 11.5cm (4 3/8in) diam. (5). 東周 青銅鋪首銜環 一組五件

£2,000 - 4,000 Provenance: The Mengdiexuan Collection
CNY18,000 - 36,000
來源： 香港夢蝶軒收藏
戰國/漢 銅鎏金鋪首銜環 一對
Compare a related pair of bronze mask and
Provenance: The Mengdiexuan Collection ring handles, Han dynasty, which was sold
at Sotheby’s New York, 15 September 2011,
來源： 香港夢蝶軒收藏 lot 1128.

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
54 | BONHAMS please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.