17th Oct, 2024 11:00
TWO-DAY AUCTION: Fine Asian Art, Buddhism and Hinduism
65
A RARE SILVER-INLAID BRONZE TRIPOD VESSEL AND COVER, LIAN, WESTERN HAN DYNASTY
Sold for €8,450
including Buyer's Premium
Expert’s note: It is rare to find a Han-dynasty lian vessel with a matching cover, especially one with silver inlays and all three phoenix handles still intact.
China, 206 BC-8 AD. The deep cylindrical body raised on three bear-form feet and flanked by a pair of taotie mask handles suspending loose rings, the sides intricately decorated with a design of arrowheads and scroll inlaid in silver, the flush-fitting domed cover with a central loop ring encircled by three upright phoenix-form handles.
Provenance: From an important Belgian private collection.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations, casting irregularities, small nicks, few shallow dents, expected minor losses to inlays. The bronze is covered in a rich, naturally grown patina with bright malachite and cuprite encrustations.
Weight: 1,976 cm
Dimensions: Height 18.8 cm
Literature comparison:
Compare a related silver-inlaid gilt bronze tripod Lian with similar phoenix handles, bear-shaped feet, and inlaid decorations, 19.5 cm high, dated 1st to 2nd century, in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, accession number 50.46.49a,b. A gold lian and cover of matching form but with figural decoration around the sides in the Shanxi Provincial Museum is illustrated in Zhongguo Qingtongqi Quanji , Beijing, 2000, p. 216.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 22 March 2011, lot 195
Price: USD 62,500 or approx. EUR 82,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An archaic bronze vessel and cover (Lian), Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the related form with similar bear-shaped feet. Note the lack of inlays and the different size (22.2 cm).
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Giquello, Paris, 11 June 2024, lot 58
Price: EUR 36,882
Description: A tripod box, lian, Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, with similar bear-shaped feet, taotie masks, and phoenix atop the cover, and the related inlay decoration, albeit with gold in addition to silver. Note the size (25 cm).
Expert’s note: It is rare to find a Han-dynasty lian vessel with a matching cover, especially one with silver inlays and all three phoenix handles still intact.
China, 206 BC-8 AD. The deep cylindrical body raised on three bear-form feet and flanked by a pair of taotie mask handles suspending loose rings, the sides intricately decorated with a design of arrowheads and scroll inlaid in silver, the flush-fitting domed cover with a central loop ring encircled by three upright phoenix-form handles.
Provenance: From an important Belgian private collection.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations, casting irregularities, small nicks, few shallow dents, expected minor losses to inlays. The bronze is covered in a rich, naturally grown patina with bright malachite and cuprite encrustations.
Weight: 1,976 cm
Dimensions: Height 18.8 cm
Literature comparison:
Compare a related silver-inlaid gilt bronze tripod Lian with similar phoenix handles, bear-shaped feet, and inlaid decorations, 19.5 cm high, dated 1st to 2nd century, in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, accession number 50.46.49a,b. A gold lian and cover of matching form but with figural decoration around the sides in the Shanxi Provincial Museum is illustrated in Zhongguo Qingtongqi Quanji , Beijing, 2000, p. 216.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 22 March 2011, lot 195
Price: USD 62,500 or approx. EUR 82,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An archaic bronze vessel and cover (Lian), Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the related form with similar bear-shaped feet. Note the lack of inlays and the different size (22.2 cm).
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Giquello, Paris, 11 June 2024, lot 58
Price: EUR 36,882
Description: A tripod box, lian, Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, with similar bear-shaped feet, taotie masks, and phoenix atop the cover, and the related inlay decoration, albeit with gold in addition to silver. Note the size (25 cm).
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