A rare gold and silver-inlaid bronze peacock-form mat weight, Han dynasty

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

Cast proudly and in all its splendor, this figure of a peacock is rare on account of its superb detail and decoration. The finely delineated plumage, elongated neck turned sideways, gracefully sculpted head and gold and silver detailing lend this piece an elegant and rich countenance. Peacocks were exotic creatures from the south and as they first appear in Chinese literature in the third century BC, their occurrence may represent southern tributes to the Han dynasty court from those days, see Edward Schafer, The Vermillion Bird, Berkeley, 1967, pp 236-37. Peacocks were not merely popular as decorative motifs but also represented auspicious omens (xiangrui), embodying the concern for the afterlife particularly prevalent during the Han dynasty.

Very few bird figures may be closely compared to the present piece. See one from the collection of Henri Vever, sold in our London rooms, 6th June 1995, lot 78. The peacock was sometimes likened to the mythological phoenix in its artistic rendering. Endowed with similar auspicious qualities as the peacock, the phoenix appears in various decorative shapes. Compare, for example, a bronze phoenix-form weight, inlaid in gold and silver from the collection of Dr. Paul Singer, included in the exhibition, Art of the Han, China Institute, New York, 1979, cat. no. 49; an elegant phoenix figure displaying an elaborate tail, without inlay, included in the exhibition Ancient Chinese Bronzes, J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 2011, cat. no. 20; and another, of stockier build, also from the collection of Stephen Junkunc, III, sold in these rooms, 19th March 2019, lot 122.