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Lot Essay
Early bronze vessels of this unusual and graceful shape are quite rare, and a gilt-bronze example especially rare. A Han-dynasty bronze example of the same size, but with some abstract detailing to the head, was included in the exhibition, Bestiaire, Beurdeley & cie, Paris, March 1993, no. 15. Sir Percival David in 'Hsiang and His Album', T.O.C.S., 1933-34, vol. 11, pp. 22-47, reproduces, pl. XVIII, fig. 29, a page from the album that illustrates a bronze vessel of this form and a later 'black Ding' rendition. The drawing of the vessel on the left is from the Xuanhe bogu tulu (Illustrated Description of Antiquities in the Imperial Collection in the Xuanhe period [1119-26]), vol. XII, no. 38, showing that as early as the Song dynasty vessels of this form had been excavated. A line drawing of a similar Han ‘goose-neck’ vessel is illustrated in vol. 21, no. 5, of the Xiqing gujian, a 40-volume illustrated catalogue of ancient bronzes commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor. (Fig. 1) Compiled between 1749 and 1755, it includes some 1,529 bronze objects from the imperial collection.
A similarly rendered goose head and neck can be seen forming the hook on garment hooks of the late Warring States-Western Han period, 3rd-2nd century BC, such as the gold example from the Johan Carl Kempe Collection sold at Christie’s New York, Masterpieces of Early Chinese Gold and Silver, 12 September 2019, lot 508, and the gilt-bronze example dated late Warring States-early Western Han, 3rd century BC, illustrated by T. Lawton in Chinese Art of the Warring States Period, Freer Gallery of Art, 1982, p. 126, no. 74.
The form of the current vessel and others like it served as inspiration for artisans of subsequent periods and was reproduced in a variety of materials. For vessel of this form in cloisonne enamel, see the Qianlong-period ‘duck-head’ bottle from the collection of David B. Peck III sold at Christie’s New York, Rivers of Color, Chinese Cloisonne Enamels from Private American Collections, 18 September 2014, lot 620. (Fig. 2) For a porcelain vessel of this form, see the Kangxi-period celadon-glazed vase in the W. T. Walters Collection illustrated by S. W. Bushell in Oriental Ceramic Art, New York, 1980 ed., p. 83.
A similarly rendered goose head and neck can be seen forming the hook on garment hooks of the late Warring States-Western Han period, 3rd-2nd century BC, such as the gold example from the Johan Carl Kempe Collection sold at Christie’s New York, Masterpieces of Early Chinese Gold and Silver, 12 September 2019, lot 508, and the gilt-bronze example dated late Warring States-early Western Han, 3rd century BC, illustrated by T. Lawton in Chinese Art of the Warring States Period, Freer Gallery of Art, 1982, p. 126, no. 74.
The form of the current vessel and others like it served as inspiration for artisans of subsequent periods and was reproduced in a variety of materials. For vessel of this form in cloisonne enamel, see the Qianlong-period ‘duck-head’ bottle from the collection of David B. Peck III sold at Christie’s New York, Rivers of Color, Chinese Cloisonne Enamels from Private American Collections, 18 September 2014, lot 620. (Fig. 2) For a porcelain vessel of this form, see the Kangxi-period celadon-glazed vase in the W. T. Walters Collection illustrated by S. W. Bushell in Oriental Ceramic Art, New York, 1980 ed., p. 83.