Lot 1235. A pair of small bronze openwork braziers and ear cups, Eastern Han dynasty (25-220); The braziers 9 7/8 in. (25 cm.) long, the ear cups 5¼ in. (13.4 cm.) wide. Estimate 10,000 - USD 15,000. Price realised USD 18,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2013

The upper, oval section of each brazier has openwork sides cast with the animals of the Four Directions, below four tab supports that rise from the rim to support the ear cups. The tapering rectangular lower section is raised on four crouching human supports, and has an openwork grate as a base. At one end is a handle that curves up to a leaf-shaped terminal. Each shallow cup has narrow 'ear'-form handles and a flat base.

Provenance: TK Oriental Antiques Inc., Virginia, 1996.

Note: Similar braziers retaining their original ear cups are illustrated in Ancient Chinese Arts in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1961, pl. 209; and in Chinese Bronzes from the Buckingham Collection, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1946, pls. LXV, LXVI and LXVII. These examples additionally retain the tray on which the brazier would have stood. A brazier of this type, lacking the cup and tray, was sold at Christie's London, 5-6 July 1983, lot 108; another from the collection of J.T. Tai was sold at Sotheby's New York, 22 March 2011, lot 201; and a third was sold at Christie's New York, 14 September 2012, lot 1252.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Furniture, Archaic Bronzes and Works of Art, New York, 21 - 22 March 2013