Lot 851. A rare bronze double scabbard with two weapons, Late Western-Early Eastern Zhou period, 9th-6th century BC. The larger weapon: 39 cm long; The scabbard: 26.2 cm long, cloth box. Price realised USD 35,560 (Estimate USD 8,000 – USD 12,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2025.
 

Provenance: Chen Man Yue, Hong Kong, 1997.
Kaikodo, New York.

Literature: Kaikodo Journal, New York, Spring 1998, no. 38.

Note: The present bronze scabbard is a rare example of a double-sheathed form, composed of two adjoining blade cases of oval section. One side of the shorter sheath is decorated with stylized donkeys, while the longer sheath bears four bucks. The reverse of the scabbard features two vertical columns of triangular apertures, lending both visual rhythm and practical lightness to the structure.

Double-sheathed scabbards are exceptionally rare. Related examples have been excavated in Inner Mongolia and date from the late Western Zhou to the early Spring and Autumn period. Notably, a bronze double scabbard and blade discovered in a tomb at Nanshan’gen, Ningcheng County, Inner Mongolia, is published in Chugoku Uchi Moko Happo Kiba Minzoku Bunka Ten, Tokyo, 1983, no. 6, p. 24. Another related pair of double scabbards and blades, was excavated at Xiaoheishigou, also in Ningcheng County, and illustrated in Wenwu, 1995, no. 5, pl. II:3. While similar in construction, both excavated scabbard are decorated only with triangular apertures and lack the elaborate zoophoric ornamentation seen on the present example.

The depiction of animal motifs on the present scabbard is particularly significant. These decorative features likely reflect the beliefs and material culture of the northern pastoral communities that produced them. They may have been imbued with talismanic power, intended to enhance the prowess or protection of the warrior or hunter who carried them, while simultaneously elevating the aesthetic quality of his equipment. A related decorative scheme appears on a carved bone from a tomb in Nanshan’gen, dated to the 9th–7th century BC, and published in Kaogu, 1981, vol. 4, p. 307, fig. 6.

Lot 852. Property from the Shorenstein Collection, San Francisco. A rare bronze axle cuff, Western Zhou dynasty, 11th-9th century BC; 20.8 cm high, composite stand. Price realised USD 35,560 (Estimate USD 15,000 – USD 25,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2025.
 

Provenance: The Malcolm collection: ancient bronzes; works of art; early ceramics; Sotheby's London, 29 March 1977, lot 19.
Christie's New York, 18 September 1997, lot 327, and thence by descent within the family.

Literature: International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1935-6, pl.12, no. 265.
La Découverte de l'Asie, Hommage à René Grousset, Musée Cernuschi, Paris, 1954, no. 387.

Exhibited: London, International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Arts, 1935-6, no. 265.
Paris, Musée Cernuschi, La Découverte de l'Asie, Hommage à René Grousset, 1954, no. 387.

Note: This rare bronze axle cuff is one of three related fittings that have appeared on the market in the past 40 years. The present cuff was first published in The Chinese Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in 1935. In 1977 it was sold in the Malcom Collection sale at Sotheby’s London, along with another very similar fitting (lot 20). The similar fitting appears to be the example subsequently sold in the British Rail Pension Fund sale at Sotheby’s London, 12 December 1989, lot 10, and is now in The Cleveland Museum of Art, acc. no. 1990.30.

A third axle cuff from the David-Weill collection was included in the Mostra D’Arte Cinese/Exhibition of Chinese Art, Venice, 1954, no. 57, and was sold at the David-Weill sale at Sotheby’s Paris, 16 December 2015, lot 28.

A similar axle cuff with variations in detail from the Raphael Bequest is illustrated by J. Rawson in Ancient China, Art and Archaeology, London, 1980, pl. 73. The author states (p. 102) that "the coiled dragons on this bronze are seen on some of the earliest Zhou bronzes, presumably cast in Shaanxi."

See, also, Kaogu, 1980:4, pp. 362-64, figs. 3, 5 and 6 for line drawings of how such fittings attached to the chariot and a similar fitting of more simple design discovered in a Western Zhou chariot-and-horse pit at Keshengzhuang, Chang'an, p. 363, fig. 4.

Lot 853. Property from an Important Private Collection. A rare bronze ritual pouring vessel, Yi, Late Western-Early Eastern Zhou period, 8th century BC; 28 cm wide, hardwood stand, cloth box. Price realised USD 127,000 (Estimate USD 40,000 – USD 60,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2025.
 

Both of the back legs are cast with a single graph, tian.

Provenance: T. Y. King Collection, Hong Kong, 1947.
Dr. Ernst Winkler Collection, Hong Kong, acquired in May 1983.
Eskenazi, London, 2014.

Exhibited: On loan: Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, June 2019-January 2023.

Note: The yi is a ritual water vessel traditionally paired with a pan basin and used in ceremonial handwashing rites. During the ritual, water was poured from the yi over the hands and collected in the accompanying pan. The vessel form appears to have developed in the late Western Zhou period, adapted from the shape of the gong and the function of the he, and it remained in use through the Eastern Zhou period.

Bronze yi vessels typically feature simple decoration, often limited to a single narrow band of decoration and horizontally ribbed bodies. See, for example, the yi sold at Christie’s New York, 23 March 2012, lot 1511. In contrast, the present yi is distinguished by its elegant silhouette, generous, broad proportions and boldly cast relief decoration of two raised decorative bands encircling the vessel, each with interlocking stylized dragons. The vessel is further decorated with a handle cast in the form of a sinuous dragon. A closely related yi with similar bands of interlocking dragon decoration in the Arthur M. Sackler Collection is illustrated by Jenny F. So in Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. III, Washington, D.C., 1995, pp. 336–7, no. 67. Another comparable example was excavated from Tomb G2 at Baoxiangsi, Guangshan County, Henan Province, and is illustrated by Robert L. Thorp in Son of Heaven: Imperial Arts of China, Seattle, 1988, p. 55, no. 5.

The present yi is exceptionally rare for having a graph cast on either of the back legs, rather than on the interior of vessel. The graph appears to read tian (田), meaning ‘field’ or ‘farm’, though its precise significance remains open for interpretation. It is a graph rarely depicted on early bronzes, but which can be found cast under the handle of a jue recorded by the renowned late Qing-dynasty bronze connoisseur and scholar Liu Tizhi in Xiaojiaojinge jinwen taben (Rubbings of Archaic Bronze Inscriptions at the Xiaojiaojingge Studio), 1935, vol. 6, pp. 8–9.