HOTUNG | 何東 The Personal Collection of the late Sir Joseph Hotung: Part 1 | Evening
HOTUNG | 何東 The Personal Collection of the late Sir Joseph Hotung: Part 1 | Evening
A bronze rider on a chimera, Han dynasty | 漢 青銅人形馭獸燈座
Auction Closed
October 8, 01:37 PM GMT
Estimate
800,000 - 1,200,000 HKD
Lot Details
Description
A bronze rider on a chimera,
Han dynasty
漢 青銅人形馭獸燈座
the rider depicted with long rabbit ears, thick lips, almond-shaped eyes framed by bushy brows and a bulbous nose, his hair neatly combed and detailed with striation, balancing a cylinder on the top of his head, his slim body bare save for a wide belt, his arms outstretched, holding a beaker in his right hand, the winged beast depicted with prominent round eyes framed by arched brows, crowned by a pair of ribbed and curved horns between pointed ears, its mouth open in a ferocious roar revealing its sharp fangs, standing foursquare accentuating its broad shoulders and muscular haunches, the ridged tail gently curved to the left
h. 16.9 cm
J.J. Lally & Co., New York, 14th March 1990.
藍理捷，紐約，1990年3月14日
Arts of Ancient China, J.J. Lally & Co., New York, 1990, cat. no. 9.
《Arts of Ancient China》，藍理捷，紐約，1990年，編號9
Ingeniously sculpted as a lively rider balancing on the back of a fantastic beast, the present lot belongs to a small and distinctive group of Han dynasty bronze utensils which are both decorative and functional. An almost identical object was excavated in Hefei, Anhui, with the figure holding a shallow pan in its left hand, indicating it was likely made to serve as an oil lamp, and is preserved in the Anhui Provincial Museum, illustrated in Wang Ziyun, Zhongguo diaosu yishu shi [History of Chinese sculptural art], Beijing, 1988, pl. 156. Another example without a lamp pan, formerly in the Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, was exhibited in Art Treasures from Shanghai and Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1996-7, cat. no. 10, and later sold at Christie's New York, 24th March 2011, lot 1261. See also a related figural group, modelled as a hatted man supporting two lamp dishes and mounting a furious single-horned bovine, sold at Christie's New York, 19th March 2021, lot 809.
此件飾一人馭異獸，雙臂分張，應屬漢代集陳設與實用於一身的青銅器。安徽合肥出土一器，與此幾近一樣，人物左手托淺盤，疑是油燈盞，現存安徽省博物館，收入王子云，《中國雕塑藝術史》，北京，1988年，圖版156。香港徐氏藝術館舊存一例，但缺油燈盞盤，收入《滬港藏珍》，香港，1996-7年，編號10，後售於紐約佳士得2011年3月24日，編號1261。還見一戴冠人物馭獸例，人物雙手均托盞，獸獨角，形類牛，2021年3月19日在紐約佳士得拍出，編號809。