Lot 26. An unusual silver finial, Warring States Period (475-221 BC), 7.6cm., 3in. Estimate 1,000 — 1,500 GBP. Lot sold 1,250 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's

heavily cast with an octagonal tubular base surmounted by a bulbous mid-section before gently tapering into a flat closed end, two holes on opposite sides for attachment. Weight 104.5g.

Exhibited: Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1954-55, cat. no. 84.

Literature: Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1953, pl. 84.

Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, The Museum of Art and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 1999, pl. 87.

Sotheby's. Masterpieces of Chinese Precious Metalwork, Early Gold and Silver; Early Chinese White, Green and Black Wares, London, 14 May 2008