Page 96 - Sothebys Important Chinese Art 09/13/17

72

A RARE BRONZE FIGURE OF A BUFFALO Robustly cast in the form of a bu alo, this gure embodies the
WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY characteristics of Western Zhou sculpture, demonstrating the
crafsmen’s attempt to capture the vital energy of creatures
the stocky animal cast standing four square with its head rather than a precise and naturalistic rendering. The muscular
turned to the right, the body with a pattern of recessed legs and bulky body emphasize the strength of the creature,
F-shaped motifs, with spirals to the hind and forelegs, the its power accentuated by the swirling linear pattern that rises
short tail curled over the near ank, the head with its mouth from the sturdy legs and the stylized facial features with large
open, with two long grooved horns and a diamond motif on the curled horns. The open mouth and turned head give a feeling
forehead, the underside open, the legs of hollow C-section, the of suspended motion or latent energy.
bronze patinated to a smooth pale green tone
Length 10⅜ in., 26.4 cm In its powerful depiction, this gure points to the important
role bu alos played in agriculture. Important accomplishments
PROVENANCE of the Zhou dynasty included advancements in irrigation, such
Yamanaka & Co., London. as drainage, waterways, canals and dams. They developed iron
Collection of Mrs Mary Cohen. tools during this time, including iron-tipped ox-drawn ploughs.
Sotheby’s London, 14th June 1970, lot 55. Furthermore, soldiers wore either a sleeveless coat of bu alo
Collection of J.T. Tai. or rhinoceros hide or boiled leather armor for protection.
Sotheby’s New York, 22nd March 2011, lot 39.
A number of bu alos of this type are recorded and are believed
EXHIBITED to have been used as stands or feet for large vessels. Some
Ancient Chinese Bronzes, Yamanaka & Co., London, face right while others face left, indicating they came in pairs
December 1925, cat. no. 28. or fours. See a closely related bu alo, possibly the companion
to this piece, with the head turned in the opposite direction,
$ 150,000-250,000 illustrated in Tch’ou Tö-yi, Bronzes Antiques de la Chine
Appartenant a C.T. Loo & Cie, Paris, 1924, pl. 19.
Mary Cohen 55
1970 6 14 39 Related gures with sockets on the back are more commonly
known; one from Earl and Irene Morse and Stoclet Collections,
2011 3 22 illustrated and exhibited on numerous occasions including the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in 1982, was sold in
Ancient Chinese Bronzes these rooms, 3rd December 1986, lot 18; another was exhibited
in Chinesische Kunst, Preussische Akademie de Künste,
1925 12 28 Berlin, 1929, cat. no. 9; one, from the Kunstindustrimuseum,
Copenhagen, was included in The Exhibition of Early Chinese
Bronzes, Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockhom, 1933,
cat. no. XX; another in the Pillsbury Collection, is published
in Bernhard Karlgren, A Catalogue of Chinese Bronzes in the
Alfred F. Pillsbury Collection, Minneapolis, 1952, pl. 105; and a

fth example sold in our London rooms, 13th-14th November
1972, lot 230.

73 No Lot

Ancient Chinese Bronzes, Yamanaka & Co., London, December 1925,
cat. no. 28

94 SOTHEBY’S