Lot 88
88
AN ARCHAISTIC SILVER-INLAID BRONZE WINE VESSEL, HU
AN ARCHAISTIC SILVER-INLAID BRONZE WINE VESSEL, HU

17TH/18TH CENTURY

Details
AN ARCHAISTIC SILVER-INLAID BRONZE WINE VESSEL, HU
17th/18th Century
Based on a Warring States prototype, the pear-shaped body inlaid in silver with an allover pattern of confronted, slender dragons with arched backs and long tails arranged in rows and separated by slit lozenges, the similar dragons encircling the flared pedestal foot shown with heads turned backward, and the pair of faceted, angular loop handles inlaid with similar lozenges of broader outline, with dark mottled patina and malachite encrustation
13in. (34.2cm.) high

Lot Essay

For a possible prototype for this hu, see the example inlaid in copper and gold with a similar dragon and lozenge pattern in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, illustrated by Ming S. Wilson, 'Archaic Chinese Bronzes in the Victoria and Albert Museum', Orientations, November 1993, p. 67, fig. 13. The same hu appears to be illustrated by W.P. Yetts in the Eumorfopoulos Collection Catalogue, London, 1924, vol. 1, pl. XXVII, no. A35.