Page 73 - 2021 March 15th Fine Chinese Paintings and Works of Art, Bonhams NYC New York

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION
OF JAMES AND MARILYNN ALSDORF
77
A FINE PAIR OF BRONZE TAOTIE-MASK For another much larger bronze single taotie-mask handle and ring,
LOOSE-RING HANDLES see J.J. Lally, Oriental Art, Archaic Chinese Bronzes, Jades and Works
Warring States (475-221 BCE) of Art, June 1994, New York, no. 64. Whilst the scale is completely
Each crisply cast in low relief with multi-ridged eyebrows centered different the detailing is not. Both exhibit carefully and crisply cast and
by an unusual chequered-pattern cylinder below two curling horns, incised fur-like markings around the face. A pair of smaller gilt-bronze
the beak curled under to support the solid ring, the side edges of mask handles closer in overall profile to ours were sold at Sotheby’s,
the masks with tightly-scrolled tufts and crests, the reverse with a Hong Kong, 28/29th November 2019, The inclusion of cylinder-like
thick projecting pin from the center of the back for mounting, all ornamentation between the eyebrows appears to be unique. For a
under a soft silvery-green patina. single example see Andre Leth, Kinesisk Kunst (Catalogue of Selected
3 1/8in (7.8cm) high, the Taotie, 5in (12.6cm) high overall (2). Objects of Chinese Art in the Museum of Decorative Art, Copenhagen),
1959, no. 22.
$7,000 - 10,000
See also another pair sold at Sotheby’s, New York, 1 June 1994, lot
439 and later illustrated as an example of archaic types in regard to a
戰國 青銅舖首衔環一對 pair of important silver door handles made in the Palace Workshops
for the Qianlong emperor’s study in the Yuanmingyuan complex, see
Sotheby’s, Hong Kong, 27 April 2003, lot 34, fig.1.

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