A very rare and important archaic bronze 'snake' lamp Warring States Period / Early Western Han Dynasty

the sinuous snake gliding effortlessly up, his body bending six times as his wide jaws engulf one side of the three-lobed channelled oil tray with three prickets, all counterbalanced perfectly by his lower body loosely and naturalistically coiled along the ground forming the base, his lightly cast 'D' shaped scales expanding at the apex of the bend and shrinking on the opposite side, the overall surface covered in a green patina with light patches of malachite and cuprite encrustation

Snake form lamps are very rare.  Compare a Zhou Dynasty bronze ornament in the shape of a coiled snake in the Musée Guimet, Paris, illustrated in Alain Thote, ' Aspects of the Serpent on Eastern Zhou Bronzes and Lacquerware', Colloquies on Art and Archaeology in Asia, no. 15 : The Problem and Meaning in Early Chinese Ritual Bronzes, London, 1990, p. 152, pl. 3.  In his article, Thote explores the importance of snakes as a Chu design element.  The complicated interlacing snake design can be seen on the bronze zun and pan from the fifth century Chu State tomb of Zeng Hou Yi, at Leigudun, Hubei province, illustrated in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji, vol. 10, Beijing, 1998, pl. 137, as well as the painted lacquer inner coffin also recovered from this tomb and illustrated in Alain Thote, 'Double Coffin of Leigudun Tomb No. 1', New Perspectives on Chu Culture, During the Eastern Zhou Period, Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, 1991, fig. 2.  The snake in the present lot is simpler in design compared to that found in the Zeng Hou Yi tomb, which may indicate that it was made slightly later, but appears to have been influenced by the art of the Chu State. 

Han Dynasty lamps of this type are more commonly found as goose foot lamps.  A large goose foot lamp is illustrated in Eskenazi, Catalogue, March 1998, no.6. Two smaller goose foot lamps in the Shanghai Museum are illustrated in Important Inscribed Ancient Chinese Bronze Vessels in the Li Yingshuan Collection,  Shanghai Museum, 1996, nos. 30 and 31.

The dating of this lot is consistent with the results of a thermoluminescence test, Oxford Authentication, Ltd., no. C204c75.