Rare verseuse zoomorphe en bronze et incrustations or, argent et turquoise. Chine, Dynastie Song  (960-1279). Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2012

En forme d'animal mythologique, reposant sur ses quatre pattes, le corps orné de rinceaux en incrustations d'argent, la tête à décor de motifs stylisés en incrustations d'or et d'argent, les yeux, les oreilles, le collier et la queue incrustés de turquoise, le dos rehaussé d'un couvercle orné d'une tête d'oiseau finement incrustée d'argent et de turquoises, socle en bois. Longueur: 35 cm. (13¾ in.) - Lot 286. Estimate €150,000 - €250,000

Literature: Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Art, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1915, plate XXXV.

Exhibited: Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1915

Notes: This vessel and others like it are the result of the interest in archaic bronzes during the Northern Song period, brought about by a renewed interest in Confucianism and anything associated with the rituals of the Bronze Age. The archaic inspiration for these vessels could be embodied by a Warring States tapir-form vessel inlaid with gold, silver and turquoise illustrated in A Selection of Archaeological Finds of The People's Republic of China, Beijing, 1976, pl. 44.

A comparable but slightly more elaborate Song/Yuan example was sold by Christie's New York, 21 March 2000, lot 162. The dating of this vessel was substantiated by a thermoluminescence test. As the present lot is less lavishly decorated a slightly earlier date is conceivable.

See also the exhibition catalogue Le Musée chinois de l'Impératrice Eugénie, Château de Fontainebleau, Blanchard, Le Plessis-Robinson, juin 1994, fig. 20. 

Christie's. Art d'Asie. 12 June 2012. Paris