Lot 13. A fine and rare gold finial, Warring States Period (475-221 BC), 3.3cm., 1 1/4 in. Estimate 5,000 — 7,000 GBP. Lot sold 120,500 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's

cast as the head of a feline rising from a tubular finial, short twisting horns emerging from behind scrolled ears, eyes glaring beneath scrolled brows, the large snarling mouth with strong jaws, two narrow bands with scrolls and beaded borders decorating the finial, two holes at the base of the tube for attachment. Weight 23g.

Exhibited: Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1954-55, cat. no. 4.

Chinese Gold, Silver and Porcelain. The Kempe Collection, Asia House Gallery, New York, 1971, cat. no. 3, an exhibition touring the United States and shown also at nine other museums.

Literature: Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1953, pl. 4.

Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, The Museum of Art and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 1999, pl. 4.

Note: A closely related gold feline head finial, from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Bull, was included in a number of important exhibitions; see Ancient Chinese Bronze and Chinese Jewelry, The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, 1941, cat. no. 95; Exhibition of Chinese Art, Palazzo Ducale, Venice, 1954, cat. no. 101; and the China Institute in America exhibition Early Chinese Gold and Silver, China House Gallery, New York, 1971, cat. no. 7.