Warring States Period

A rare cast bronze finial, dingshi, Warring States period. Estimate US$ 8,000 - 12,000 (€7,100 - 11,000). Photo: Bonhams. Formed as a mythical bird in a resting pose, the finial delicately decorated with naturalistic wings, scales and feathers and a projecting axe-head form tail balanced by a broad beak extending from the head adorned with stylized ears/horns, all supported by the elegantly curved legs ending in splayed claws and a slightly tapering socket with an aperture for mounting, the surface with natural... [Lire la suite]

A rare silver-inlaid bronze finial, dingshi, Warring States period. Estimate US$ 12,000 - 15,000 (€11,000 - 13,000). Photo: Bonhams. Cast in the shape of a gracefully recumbent bird, its head turned back, the elegantly curved beak resting on the body, the bronze finial inlaid in silver with a geometric pattern that articulates the animal's plumage, all above an integral socket pierced with a hole for attachment, the finial with scattered, green encrustation. 1 7/16in (3.5cm) x 2 3/4 (7cm) ... [Lire la suite]

Pendant in the form of a disk (yuan) with raised knobs, 475-221 B.C.E., Late Eastern Zhou dynasty, Warring States period, Jade (nephrite), W: 8.2 cm, China, Purchase F1948.12 © 2014 Smithsonian Institution

A Chinese bronze circular mirror, Han dynasty. Photo courtesy Uppsala Auktion. The small fluted loop framed by a band of interlinked archaic scrolls, with a steely patina and large patches of dark green encrustation. Diameter: 7.5 cm. Estimate: SEK 3.000 - 4.000 (EUR 330 - 440). Hammer price: SEK 3.600 Provenance: Axel Lagrelius (1863‑1944). Thence by descent. Translation from Lagrelius’s original collection catalogue;No. 31: Small, very thin mirror. The main decoration of c-shaped interlinked scrolls. The ground... [Lire la suite]

An archaic bronze mirror, a silver inlaid belthook and a painted pottery vase, hu, Han Dynasty and Warring States Period. Photo Sotheby's the archaic bronze mirror thinly and finely cast on one side with a small loop handle encircled by geometric shapes and mythical beasts; the belthook inlaid with geometric patterns along the arched shaft, the tip shaped as a mythical beast's head; the earthenware vase with a compressed globular body rising up to a waisted neck and an everted rim, the body decorated in black, red, blue... [Lire la suite]

A black and red painted lacquer 'Ear cup', Warring States Period. Photo Sotheby's of elliptical form, with deep rounded sides supported on a flat base, flanked by a pair of 'butterfly-wing' shaped ears set at a low angle, the exterior, ears and interior rim lacquered in black with red-painted specks on the handles and rim and stylized bird’s heads on the interior mouth, the interior lacquered in red; 17.6 cm., 6 7/8 in. Estimation 40,000 — 60,000 HKD Exposition: 2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer. Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong... [Lire la suite]

A carved black lacquer table top, Warring States Period. Photo Sotheby's the curved slab carved with two rectangular integral ends detailed with scrolls resembling the eyes of mythical beasts, the top surface further incised with two panels framed by clustered geometric motifs evoking stylised taotie masks along the edges and down the centre, the underside with six mortises at each end for fitting upright legs with tenons and four further tenons in the slab for secondary legs fitted diagonally to provide reinforcement, lacquered in... [Lire la suite]

Bronze ritual pouring vessel, he, in the form of a winged animal, China, Eastern Zhou, Warring States period, 475 - 221 BC. Photo courtesy Ben Janssens Oriental Art Ltd. Length: 12 inches, 30.5 cm. Height: 11 ½ inches, 29.2 cm This rare and impressive pouring vessel, he, was used in ritual ceremonies for heating liquids such as water or beer. Although many extant he have animalistic elements in their decorative scheme – mostly in the spout and the handle – it is extremely rare to find examples cast as a complete animal, showing... [Lire la suite]

Rare and Magnificent Bronze Drum Stand with Three Coiled Snakes. Photo courtesy Vanderven Oriental Art. This type of object served as a base for a wooden pole drum. The three snakes, worked in low relief, coil around a tubular sleeve in which the wooden pole would have been placed. Various small exotic beasts and mythological creatures decorate top and sides of the drum stand. Animals such as a boars, crocodile, bats and stylized monkeys are depicted on a background of archaic meandering patterns. Three rings - originally... [Lire la suite]

Two bronze mirrors, Warring States Period and Western Han Dynasty. Photo Sotheby's one mirror thinly cast and decorated with an overall pattern of striated hooks and volutes interspersed with stippling, the center with four trefoil motifs radiating from a circle enclosing the grooved knop, the plain rim with raised edge, smooth green patina; the other cast with four dragons in sinuous linear relief, encircling the square central zone set with a knob in the form of stylized dragon, the edge with a recessed field of sixteen... [Lire la suite]