Lot 145. A silver-inlaid bronze 'tiger' weight, Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD); 6.5 by 7 by h. 4.6 cm. Lot sold: 176,400 HKD (Estimate: 60,000 - 80,000 HKD). © Sotheby's 2022

superbly cast as a coiled recumbent tiger, its head supported on its paw and resting on its rump, its neck adorned with a collar, its face detailed with a broad snout below oval-shaped eyes and large pointed ears, the details finely incised and with traces of silver inlay.

Provenance: Bluett & Sons Ltd, London, 31st December 1985.

Literature: Jessica Rawson and Emma C. Bunker, Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1990, cat. no. 115.

Exhibited: Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1990.

Sotheby's. HOTUNG  The Personal Collection of the late Sir Joseph Hotung: Part 1, Hong Kong, 9 October 2022