Page 54 - Chinese Works of Art Bonhams Sept 2015

8059 8059
A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF A
8060 MYTHICAL BIRD
Han Dynasty
52 | BONHAMS Cast in the form of a strutting bird, chest puffed
out, wings stretched back and out, with a large
upright tail plume and petal-form cranial plume,
the sinuous neck craned back, the beak
grasping a small object, all on a tall pair of legs
and large talons, the body inset with circular
stone and glass cabochons of green and red.
3 3/4in (9.5cm) high
$6,000 - 8,000

漢 鎏金銅鑲綠松石鳥形配飾

Provenance
TK Antiques, April 2003

Compare a turquoise-inlaid gilt-bronze ‘peacock’
finial from the Sze Yuen Tang Collection, dated
Eastern Han/Six Dynasties, sold in our Hong
Kong rooms, sale 20960, 24 November 2013,
lot 536. Two related gilt-bronze finials dated to
the Warring States/Han dynasty, 4th-1st century
BC are illustrated by B. Till, Treasures Unearthed:
Chinese Archaeological Artefacts from Shang
to Tang, Victoria, British Columbia, pp. 76-77,
and a related bird finial with spreading wings
is illustrated by James C. S. Lin, The Search
for Immortality: Tomb Treasures of Han China,
Cambridge, p. 300, no. 173B.

8060
A SMALL GILT-BRONZE GARMENT HOOK
Warring States to Han dynasty
Delicately cast as a swan-like mythical bird,
the terminal formed from the bird’s sinuous
neck and long bill, the body with a projecting
tail plume, incised to depict feathers and inset
with semi-precious stone inlay, the reverse
with a protruding circular button.
1 5/8in (4.2cm) long
$4,000 - 6,000

戰國至漢 鎏金銅鑲雜寶鵝形鉤

Provenance
Ariadne Galleries, New York, August 1999

Inlaid gilt bronze garment hooks of this
rounded form and exaggerated beak are
rare. An earlier example of a bronze hook of
this form dated to the Warring States period
is illustrated by B. Till, Treasures Unearthed:
Chinese Archaeological Artefacts from Shang
to Tang, Victoria, British Columbia, pp.
76-77, and another turquoise-inlaid example
dated to the Western Han is illustrated by
James C. S. Lin, The Search for Immortality:
Tomb Treasures of Han China, Cambridge,
p. 183, no. 74. Another related example,
without inlay but of cast gold, is illustrated
by Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold and Silver
in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm,
1953, pl. 12 and sold at Sotheby’s London,
Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork,
Early Gold and Silver; Early Chinese White,
Green and Black Wares, 14 May 2008, lot 21.