WARRING STATES PERIOD, CIRCA 4TH–3RD CENTURY BC

Details

A RED AND BLACK LACQUERED-WOOD 'EAR CUP’, ER BEI
WARRING STATES PERIOD, CIRCA 4TH–3RD CENTURY BC
The elliptical cup rests on a flat base, with the deep rounded sides rising to a thin lip and flanked by a pair of ‘butterfly-wing' shaped ears decorated with zig-zag patterns on top and spiral motifs on the sides. The decorations are painted in red and black, the lower sides and base are lacquered in black, and the interior is lacquered red.
6 7/8 in. (17.5 cm.) long, cloth box

Provenance

Acquired in Hong Kong, 1995.
J. J. Lally & Co., New York, no. 2113C.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Margaret Gristina (葛曼琪) Senior Specialist, VP

asianartny@christies.com +1 212 636 2180

Lot Essay

A very similar lacquered wood ear cup (er bei) was discovered in 1965 in tomb no. 1 in the Warring States cemetery at Wangshan, Jiangling, Hubei province, and is illustrated in Hubei chutu Zhanguo Qin Han qiqi (Lacquerware from the Warring States to the Han Periods Excavated in Hubei Province), Hong Kong, 1994, no. 3. The same ear cup is illustrated again in the excavation report, Jiangling Wangshan Shazhong Chu mu (Chu Tombs at Wangshan and Shazhong, Jiangling), Beijing, 1996, col. pl. 3, no. 1, together with another very similar example from tomb no. 2 at Wangshan, illustrated in pl. 76, no. 3.

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