Lot 124
  • 124

AN SPLENDID AND RARE GOLD AND SILVER-INLAID BRONZE CROSSBOW FITTINGWARRING STATES PERIOD |

Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 USD
Log in to view results
bidding is closed

Description

  • Length 12 5/8  in., 32 cm
the rectangular hollow section terminating in a mythical beast head detailed with large protruding eyes and flared nostrils, its lower jaw curving upward extending into a long sinuous neck and bird head depicted with rounded eyes and a hooked beak, the surface inlaid in gold and silver with abstract kuilong and scrolls, the surface with some areas of malachite encrustation 

Provenance

Alice Boney, New York, 29th May 1957.
Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978). 

Condition

There are two restored breaks with associated infills to the long curved neck of the bird and losses to the inlay on multiple areas. Overall with age-appropriate wear and expected minute losses and dents to the edges and extremities.
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

Fittings of this type have been excavated in pairs in association with chariots, and their function has long been a research topic of scholars. A pair of silver-inlaid bronze crossbow fittings were discovered from a Warring States tomb in Luoyang, Henan province, published in Luoyang Museum, 'The Chariot Pit Found at Chung-chou-lu', Kaogu, no. 3, 1974, p. 174, fig. 1. According to the archeological report, this pair of fittings were unearthed in front of the wooden shaft of a crossbow, near the left side of a chariot. Based on this finding, the report theorized that they were fitted to the front of a crossbow shaft to support the bow, and the upcurved terminals were meant to be the aiming mechanism. See a reconstruction drawing illustrated in Luoyang Museum, ibid., p. 177, fig. 7. Other scholars have developed a different theory and propose that these fittings in fact functioned as crossbow supports on a chariot. Both fittings were attached horizontally to the front left panel of a chariot, adjacent to the occupants. The crossbow was placed facing down, with its bow resting on the curved shafts and its handle positioned obliquely upward, ready at hand for a quick draw.

The present fitting is notable for its bird-head terminal, which appears to be rare among extant examples. Related examples include: a silver-inlaid crossbow fitting, also with a bird-head terminal, in the Avery Brundage Collection, published in René-Yvon Lefebvre d'Argencé, Ancient Chinese Bronzes in the Avery Brundage Collection, Berkeley, 1966, pl. XLIX, fig. B. Compare also a pair of gold and silver-inlaid crossbow fittings, with a serpent-head terminal, included in the exhibition Chinese Art of the Warring States Period. Change and Continuity, 480-222 B.C., Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1982, cat. no. 26; another pair published in Chinesische Gold und Silber. Die Sammling Pierre Uldry, Rietberg Museum, Zurich, 1994, cat. no. 28a; a single fitting from the Ernest Erickson Foundation, sold in these rooms, 6th December 1989, lot 32; and a pair of undecorated fittings sold in these rooms, 4th November 1978, lot 277.