A RARE ARCHAIC INCISED BRONZE BOWL, LI WESTERN HAN DYNASTY

the deep rounded body rising from a high spreading foot to a waisted lipped rim, incised around the exterior with a tiger confronting a sinuous winged dragon, and a pair of leaping winged Immortals divided by a bird, all below a thin chevron band and divided by a pair of high relief taotie mask handles flanked by an incised three-legged crow confronting a moon hare pounding medicine, the metal patinated to a silvery greyish brown with overall light malachite encrustation 

Collection of Chester Dale and Dolly Carter.
Sotheby's London, 2nd November 1979, lot 237.

Eleanor von Erdberg, Chinese Bronzes from the Collection of Chester Dale and Dolly Carter, Ascona, 1978, pl. 85.

This vessel has an old repair to nearly half of one side and has been re-engraved and has a slightly different patina to the rest of the piece. There is also a bruise adjacent to this area. There is some malachite encrustation to the interior and a small amount to the exterior.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The present vessel is a fine example of Han dynasty wares that are often decorated in this lightly sketched and delicate manner. The ornaments are not cast with the vessel but are engraved into the cold metal.  

According to Eleanor von Eldberg in Chinese Bronzes, Ascona, 1978, p. 148, the ten figures incised on this vessel are not related other than via their connection with cosmology. They represent the White Tiger of the West, the Green Dragon of the East,  the three-legged Sun Crow, the Bird of the South and the Moon Hare. The figures that appear to have been re-incised are the Red Bird of the South, a xianren (Immortals), and the Sun Crow.

Von Erdberg further notes, ibid., p. 150, that most bronzes with incised ornaments known to us form a rather homogeneous group and recent finds have established the Guangxi, Guangdong and Hunan regions as their place of origin and the first century B.C. as their date. Similar motifs can be found on contemporary pottery indicating that the technique used on bronze was influenced by pottery designs. For example see a painted pottery jar and cover, in the Nelson-Atkins Gallery, Kansas City, illustrated in Handbook of the Collections in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, vol. II, Kansas City, 1973, p. 77, below right, together with another large Han period jar engraved with a closely related tiger figure, p. 76, below left.

Compare also the engraving on a bronze lamp, found at the Han tomb site in Shijiazhuang, Henan province, published in Kaogu, 1965, no. 12, p. 656; and a Western Han dynasty vessel decorated with figures and animals included in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji, vol. 12, Beijing, 1998, pl. 79.