The Personal Collection of the late Sir Joseph Hotung. Lot 26. A possibly unique bronze figure of a standing man, Southwest China, Late Shang-Zhou dynasty; 11.7 cm, overall 14.8 cm. Lot sold: 693,000 HKD (Estimate: 500,000 - 800,000 HKD). © Sotheby's 2022

modelled with his hands held together in front of the chest, dressed in a high-waisted and belted robe with a slit at the hem above the feet, the well-sculpted face portrayed with almond-shaped eyes below thick brows, a bulbous nose and with large prominent ears sticking out, his hair gathered in a bun at the back and detailed with striations, wood stand.

Provenance: Collection of AW Bahr (1877-1959), London.
RH Ellsworth Ltd, New York, 14th January 1987.

Literature: Ausstellung Chinesischer Kunst / Chinese Art Exhibition, Berlin, 1929, cat. no. 50.
Jessica Rawson and Emma C. Bunker, Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1990, cat. no. 77.

Exhibited: Ausstellung Chinesischer Kunst / Chinese Art Exhibition, Gesellschaft für Ostasiatische Kunst, Preussischen Akademie der Künste, Berlin, 1929.
Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes , Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1990.
British Museum, London, on loan, 1998-2015.

Note: The present figure, with distinctive facial features, is highly unusual and no other examples appear to be recorded. The disproportionally large ears, prominent nose, and broad mouth, however, recall the bronze masks and figures from the Sanxindui culture in Sichuan. A few excavated bronze heads dated to the 13th to 12th century BC are illustrated in Robert W. Bagley, 'A Shang City in Sichuan Province', Chinese Bronzes: Selected Articles from Orientations 1983-2000 , Hong Kong, 2001, pp. 122-137, figs 5-7, 15-17, together with two small bronze figures with comparable facial features from Rujiazhuang, Baoji, Shaanxi, attributed to c. 10th century BC, figs 33-34. 

Compare also large Western Zhou bronze male and female figures with similar facial features and loosely clasped hands, excavated from Mount Shizhai in Jinning, Yunan, included in  The Chinese Bronzes of Yunnan , London, 1983, pls 174-175.

Rawson and Bunker state in  Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes that the present figure resembles the small jade carvings from the tomb of Fu Hao; see a jade kneeling figure included in  King Wu Ding and Lady Hao. Art and Culture of the Late Shang Dynasty , National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2012, cat. no. III-2. However, they find the facial features to be closer to those of a Western Zhou dynasty bronze chariot fitting in the form of a kneeling man (' Luoyang Beiyaocun Xizhou yizhi 1974 niandu fajue jianbao [1974 annual excavation report of the Western Zhou dynasty site of Beiyao Village, Luoyang]', Wenwu / Cultural Relics, 1981, no. 7, pp. 52-64, fig. 7-1). The ears of the Luoyang example are more rounded. A similar chariot axle cap linchpin, also in the form of a kneeling figure, is in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, accession no. S2012.9.617.

The outline of this standing statue is prominent, but there is no similar example in the record, or it is an orphan. Its big ears, huge nose, and wide mouth are similar to the bronze masks and statues unearthed in Sanxingdui, Sichuan. See several bronze heads unearthed, dated from the 13th to 12th centuries BC, and included in Robert. Begley, "A Shang City in Sichuan Province", "Chinese Bronzes: Selected Articles from Orientations 1983-2000", Hong Kong, 2001, pp. 122-137, figs. 5-7, 15-17, also contained in the unearthed Baoji, Shaanxi Two bronze figures of a smaller size, some believed to be dated about the tenth century BC, figs. 33-34.

Bronze statues of men and women from the Western Zhou Dynasty unearthed at Shizhaishan, Jinning, Yunnan, with similar five views and gestures of hands, see The Chinese Bronzes of Yunnan, London, 1983, pls. 174-175.

n their book "Bronze Juying", Rosen and Binger proposed the face of this image, which can be compared with the small jade carvings unearthed from the tomb of Fuhao, such as a jade kneeling man. ", Palace Museum, Taipei, 2012, pl. III-2. However, the two experts continued to point out that the five views of this image may be more similar to those of the Western Zhou Dynasty kneeling human-shaped bronze chariot, but the latter’s ears are rounder. For the picture, see “Report of the 1974 Excavation of the Xizhou Ruins in Beiyao Village, Luoyang”, “Relics”, 1981 , Issue 7, pp. 52-64, Figure 7-1. The Sackler Art Museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington also has a kneeling human-shaped bronze chariot, collection number S2012.9.617.

Sotheby's. HOTUNG The Personal Collection of the late Sir Joseph Hotung: Part 1, Hong Kong, 8 October 2022