Lot 183. A bronze 'animal masks' spearhead, Eastern Zhou dynasty, Warring States period (475-221 BC); 19.1 cm. Lot sold: 176,400 HKD (Estimate: 10,000 - 15,000 HKD). © Sotheby's 2022

the elaborate haft surmounted by stylized masks cast in relief and covered in dense geometric designs, set with a small loop on one side and the remains of another loop on the other side, the short and broad blade rendered with a central ridge flanked by two sunken channels, each channel cast with abstract zoomorphic patterns, filled with fine hatching in the troughs, the blade of a dark silvery tone.

Provenance: Luen Chai Curios, Hong Kong, 25th February 1988.

Literature: Jessica Rawson and Emma C. Bunker, Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1990, cat. no. 64.

Exhibited: Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1990.

Sotheby's. HOTUNG  The Personal Collection of the late Sir Joseph Hotung: Part 1, Hong Kong, 9 October 2022