Lot 808. A set of six small gilt-bronze votive vessels, Northern Qi-Sui dynasty (550-618); Stem cups: 1 1/8 in. (2.9 cm.) high; 1 3/8 in. (3.5 cm.) high, fitted softwood stand Covered stem cup: 2 1/4 in. (5.7 cm.) high; Funnel: 1 5/8 in. (4.1 cm.) high; Covered hu: 3 in. (7.6 cm.) high; Tuohu: 2 3/4 in. (7 cm.) high. Estimate USD 30,000 – USD 40,000. Unsold. © Christie's 2023

The set comprises two miniature stem cups, a larger stem cup with fitted cover, a miniature funnel, a small banded bulbous storage vessel and cover (hu), and a compressed pear-shaped vase (tuohu). Each vessel is richly gilded with scattered areas of bright malachite green and azurite blue patination.

Provenance: Acquired in Hong Kong prior to 2000.
J. J. Lally & Co., New York, no. 3906.

Note: A group of small votive vessels is illustrated by A. Juliano, Art of the Six Dynasties, New York, 1975, pp. 38-40, particularly the tuohu, cat. no. 16, with a lengthy discussion of the early adoption of this type of Chinese bronze vessel for use in Buddhist rituals. See, also, the group of small bronze vessels discovered in the Western Han royal tomb of Liu Fei (169-127 BC), the King of Jiangdu, at Dayun Mountain in Xuyi, Jiangsu province, illustrated by Xu (ed.), Tomb Treasures: New Discoveries from China’s Han Dynasty, San Francisco, 2017, p. 120, no. 43.

Two small Han dynasty hu-shaped gilt-bronze vessels are illustrated by P. Singer in Early Chinese Miniatures, New York, 1977, p. 34, no. 55 (from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art), and on p. 40, no. 75 (from the British Museum).

Christie's. J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 23.03.2023