Lot 1057. The Max N. Berry Collections. A bronze tuning key with coiled dragon-form handle, Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220); 15.9 cm long, lucite and metal stand. Price realised USD 4,864 (Estimate USD 4,000 – USD 6,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 21 February 1998.

Literature: J. J. Lally & Co., Arts of the Han Dynasty, New York, 1998, no. 25.

Exhibited: New York, J. J. Lally & Co., Arts of the Han Dynasty, 25 March-11 April 1998.

Note : A very similar gilt-bronze tuning key in the form of a coiled dragon from the tomb of the King of Nanyue, is illustrated in Xi Han Nanyue Wang mu (Nanyue King's Tomb of the Western Han), vol. II, pl. 47, nos. 1 and 2; and a full description with line drawing is in voI. I, pp. 92-3. See, also, the gilt-bronze coiled dragon tuning key from the collection of Orvar Karibeck illustrated in “Selected Objects from Ancient Shou-chou," Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, No. 27, 1955, pl. 42:4.

Christie's. Important Chinese Art Including Ceramics from the Art Institute of Chicago, New York, 17/18 September 2026