A RARE GOLD AND SILVER-INLAID BRONZE 'MYTHICAL BEAST' FINIALWARRING STATES PERIOD - HAN DYNASTY |

the tall socket of oval section, finely decorated in gold and silver inlay around the exterior with a pair of stylized beast masks, each detailed with rounded eyes and upright curled horns, all surmounted by a coiled beast in gilt, with a feline head, powerful claws, and a long tail, the surface with minor areas of malachite encrustation

Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978).

Finials of this type are believed to have been used crowning ceremonial poles or weapons, possibly together with a matching ferrule to cap the foot. The present finial, with its intricate design of a mythical beast on top, is extremely rare. No other comparable examples appear to be published. See a related Warring States gold and silver-inlaid finial, in the form of a bird perching on top of a dragon head, included in the exhibition "Animal Style" Art from East to West, Asia House Gallery, New York, 1970, cat. no. 74; another finial, made of gold, in the form of a dragon head, from the collection of Frank Caro, exhibited in Mostra d'arte Cinese [Exhibition of Chinese art], Venice, 1954, cat. no. 101. Most extant examples of this type are bird-form finials, such as one exhibited in Ausstellung Chinesischer Kunst [Exhibition of Chinese art], Berlin, 1929, cat. no. 74; one from the Robert H. Ellsworth Collection, sold together with its matching ferrule in these rooms, 19th March 2002, lot 99; one from the Erwin Harris Collection, sold at Christie's New York, 16th March 2017, lot 871; two sold at Bonham's, one in New York, 16th March 2015, lot 2001, and the other in London, 12th May 2016, lot 6; and another in the National Museum of History, Taipei, acc. no. 86-00103.