A gilt-bronze 'dragon head' fitting. Han dynasty

the cylindrical shaft terminating in a large dragon's head with bulging eyes and a long upturned snout. 14cm., 5 1/2 in. Est. 6,000—8,000 GBP. Lot Sold 7,500 GBP

PROVENANCE: Private Collection, Hong Kong, 1970s.

NOTE: A related example, but with incised scales on the slightly curving neck, excavated from the Han tomb no. 2 at Ganguan in Hanjiang, Jiangsu Province, is illustrated in Wenwu, 1981, vol. 11, pl. 1, fig. 5. Compare also similar dragon-head handles, but cast with open mouths; such as the one sold in our New York rooms, 4^th June 1986, lot 258, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, illustrated in James C.Y. Watt, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Museum Bulletin, Summer 1990, pl. 49; another sold in our New York rooms, 29^th November 1988, lot 54; and a third example, from the Vignier collection, included in the exhibition Ausstellung Chinesischer Kunst, Berlin, 1929, cat. no. 92.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. 13 May 09. London www.sothebys.com