MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)

Details

A MASSIVE BRONZE 'CHAMPION VASE'
MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)
The vessel is formed by two conjoined cylindrical receptacles, each finely cast in two registers with archaistic scrolls and lobed bands on a key-fret ground. The two receptacles are supported on the back of a grinning mythical beast crouching with its front and back legs braced to the sides. On the front side a slender phoenix stands on the beast's head, its stylized square-scroll wings spreading over the upper register of the receptacles, and on the back side a further mythical beast forms a handle. The creatures are incised with archaistic patterns, and the dark reddish-brown patina has some greenish and ochre mottling.
18 in. (45.8 cm.) high

Provenance

Private collection, England, acquired in Shanghai, 1920s, by an English employee of British American Tobacco working in Shanghai, and subsequently kept at the family home in Stamford, Lincolnshire.

Lot Essay

The size and quality of casting of the present 'champion vase' makes it exceptionally rare. Compare another unusually large bronze 'champion vase' dated to the Ming dynasty from the collection of Heber Reginald Bishop (1840-1902), sold at Christie’s New York, 18-19 September 2014, lot 1041. Another example in the Victoria and Albert Museum is illustrated by R. Kerr, Later Chinese Bronzes, London, 1990, fig. 57, where the author notes that the vessel was probably assembled in the Song to early Ming period, from seven or more pieces, including two Han dynasty tubular fittings, probably originally from a chariot. This composite example perhaps provides a clue to the origins of the intriguing 'champion vase' form, which became popular during the Ming and Qing.

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