Lot 8067. An archaistic gold and silver-inlaid bronze fitting, Song to Ming dynasty; 2 3/9in (6cm) wide. Estimate US$ 6,000 - 9,000 (€5,400 - 8,100). Sold for US$ 12,500 (€ 10,152). Photo: Bonhams.

Finely cast in high relief as a taotie or animal mask, the bone structure sharply defined, the sides shaped by scrolling whorls of fur, with spiraling ears and horns and large sinuous eye sockets inset with pupils carved from black crystaline stone, the details and surface picked out in geometric designs of gold and silver. 

Notes: This fitting is fascinating, both for its superb craftsmanship as well as its abstraction of the taotie motif towards a naturalistic animal face. The original spiritual significance of the taotie design was already lost to memory by the Warring States period, as the motif became a purely decorative convention. In the present piece, we find that the taotie has been further adapted into a realistic animal form, reflecting contemporary interest in the virtuosic portrayal of natural forms in luxury goods.

The use of animal-mask fittings, often for suspension of ring-handles, has a long history in China. Two pairs of attachments, one pair of bronze and suspending ring-handles and other pair of gold, both dated to the Warring States, are illustrated by B. Till, Treasures Unearthed: Chinese Archaeological Artefacts from the Shang to Tang, Victoria, British Columbia, pp. 58-59; a silver and gold-inlaid bronze mask and ring-handle dated to the Eastern Zhou dynasty is in the collection of the Freer Gallery, museum no.F1917.18, the gift of Charles Lang Freer. However the exceptionally crisp and three-dimensional casting and the realism of the present lot suggests a slightly later date.

Bonhams. CHINESE PAINTINGS AND WORKS OF ART, 14 Sep 2015 10:00 EDT , NEW YORK