Lot 223
  • 223

AN EXCEPTIONALLY RARE BRONZE DRAGON-FORM SUPPORT HAN DYNASTY |

Estimate
80,000 - 120,000 USD
Log in to view results
bidding is closed

Description

  • Length 4 1/2  in., 11.5 cm
strikingly cast, the mythical creature coiled with its head raised high and its right foreclaw grasping its long curled tail sweeping under its body, its face rendered with an upturned snout, wide open mouth, rounded bulging eyes and back-swept pointed ears, its long scaly neck extending to a pair of folded wings issuing from its shoulders, its sinuous body set with a short spike for insertion, the surface with areas of malachite encrustation 

Provenance

C.T. Loo, New York, 7th December 1946.
Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978).

Exhibited

Exhibition of Chinese Arts, C.T. Loo & Co., New York, 1941, cat. no. 180.

Literature

'Oak Park Resident Keeps Priceless Collection of Oriental Art in Bomb Shelter', Chicago Tribune, 7th September 1952, part III, p. 1. 

Condition

In overall good condition with occasional minor old chips to the extremities and age-related wear to the surface.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

Remarkable for its striking form and precise modeling, through which a powerful dynamism is successfully captured, the present lot is a testimony to the unlimited creativity of ancient artisans who ingeniously transformed a functional object into a form of sculptural art. Although it is difficult to conclude definitively without direct evidence, the present lot was likely functioned as a support for bronze censers during the Han dynasty.

Dragon-form supports of this type are extremely rare, and only a very small number of examples appear to be recorded, including a nearly identical bronze dragon, attributed to the Han dynasty, exhibited in Fine and Rare Chinese Works of Art and Ceramics Summer Exhibition, Roger Keverne, London, 2008, cat. no. 6. Another gilt-bronze dragon of a larger size, cast in a very similar posture, but missing its head and legs, attributed to the Han dynasty, was sold in our London rooms, 29th February 1972, lot 142, and later published in Hayashi Minao and Higuchi Takayasu, Fugendō Sakamoto Gorō Chūgoku seidōki seishō (Ancient Chinese Bronzes in the Sakamoto Collection), Tokyo, 2002, pl. 298.

Han dynasty bronze censers are often supported on similar dragon-form bases. Compare a related gilt-bronze dragon of a smaller size, cast with a similarly coiled body, supporting on its head a boshan censer, attributed to the Han dynasty, published in Pierre Uldry, Chinesische Gold und Silber, Zurich, 1994, pl. 92; another attributed to the Eastern Han dynasty, exhibited in Unearthing China's Past, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1973, cat. no. 43; one of a simpler design, from the Han dynasty, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Bronze Articles for Daily Use, Hong Kong, 2006, pl. 93.

Similar depictions of the present dragon can also be found as the design on the base of Han dynasty censers, such as one, as part of the reticulated foot of a censer, closely modeled in the same posture with its head raised high, attributed to the Han dynasty, exhibited in ibid., Roger Keverne, London, 2008, cat. no. 7. A further example is found on the foot of a Western Han dynasty gilt and silvered bronze censer, where it is depicted in openwork with a sinuous body and a raised head issuing the long stem of the censer, illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji gongyi meishu bian qingtongqi [Complete collection of Chinese fine art. Archaic bronzes], vol. 2, Beijing, 1986, pls 209-211; and another gilt-bronze example from the Stoclet Collection, exhibited in Ancient Chinese Bronzes from the Stoclet and Wessen Collections, Eskenazi, London, 1975, cat. no. 9.