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A GROUP OF THREE VARIOUS BRONZES
Han to Tang Dynasty
Comprising: a miniature gilt bronze model
of a lion, seated with its right paw raised
and turned to the left; a bronze luduan-form
incense burner and hinged cover, the open-
mouthed beast with the head tilted upwards,
standing upon an s-shaped serpent base; and
a circular bronze weight, cast in openwork
relief with a sinuous, coiled dragon, the base
with a swirling foliate motif on a recessed
hatched pattern ground.
3cm (1.1/4in); 10.2cm (4in) high; and 3.8cm
(1.1/2in) diam. (3).

£1,500 - 2,000
CNY14,000 - 18,000
HK$16,000 - 22,000

Provenance
Miniature lion: Purchased Bluett & Sons Ltd.
15 June 1982.

Incense burner: Sotheby’s London, 14
December 1982, lot 18.
Purchased Bluett & Sons Ltd. 16th December
1982.

Dragon weight: Sotheby’s London, 21 June
1983, Lot 22.
Purchased Bluett & Sons Ltd. 23 June 1983.

For a near identical incense burner see
Imperial Treasures, Archaic Bronzes from the
Golden Age of China, Joyce Gallery, 2012,
p.110. It is noted that this is a rare model
and an example is also illustrated in National
Palace Museum ed., Hai wai yi zhen: Tong qi
(Chinese art in Overseas Collections: bronze),
1988, vol.2, no. 166, p.169.

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