Lot 820. A bronze ram-form yoke ornament, circa 5th-4th century BC. Estimate USD 2,000 - USD 3,0000 © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The fitting is hollow cast either as a ram or an ibex shown standing atop two pierced flanges. 2 ¼ in. (5.7 cm.) high

Provenance: Sotheby’s New York, 29 November 1989, lot 280.
The Erwin Harris Collection, Miami, Florida.

Note: A similar ornament is illustrated by E.C. Bunker et al., Ancient Bronzes of the Eastern Eurasian Steppes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, New York, 1997, p. 233, no. 185, where it is ascribed to Northwestern China or Southwestern Inner Mongolia. Also illustrated, p. 233, fig. 185, is a similar ornament in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, which retains a rattle on one of the flanges which was attached after casting.

Christie's. The Harris Collection: Important Early Chinese Art, 16 March 2017, New York, Rockefeller Center