THREE SILVER-INLAID BRONZE POLE AND CHARIOT FITTINGS

LATE WARRING STATES PERIOD/EARLY WESTERN HAN DYNASTY, CIRCA 3RD CENTURY BC

Details

THREE SILVER-INLAID BRONZE POLE AND CHARIOT FITTINGS
LATE WARRING STATES PERIOD/EARLY WESTERN HAN DYNASTY, CIRCA 3RD CENTURY BC
All hollow cast: one of lenticular section, the sides inlaid in silver with interlaced bird scrolls separated by a raised collar decorated with further scrolls; one flaring towards the closed end and decorated with interlaced dragon scroll above and below the horizontally fluted raised collar; the third of pear shape above a rounded collar, the flat top inlaid with a four-petaled motif and the sides with interlaced scrolls
4½, 5 and 2 11/16 in. (11.5, 12.7 and 6.8 cm.) high (3)

Provenance

Acquired in Hong Kong, 1990, 1994 and 1990, respectively.

Exhibited

The Glorious Traditions of Chinese Bronzes, Singapore, 2000, nos. 54, 56, and 55, respectively.
Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 2002-2006.

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Lot Essay

The unusual pear-shaped fitting is similar to a gold and silver-inlaid example in the Musée Guimet, illustrated by C. Delacour, De bronze, d'or et d'argent: Arts somptuaires de la Chine, Paris, 2001, pp. 156-8. A line drawing in fig. 1, p. 156, shows how fittings of this shape were attached at the ends of the cross bar or yoke placed atop the shoulders of horses drawing a carriage or chariot. Another fitting of similar pear shape inlaid in gold and silver from Kincun, near Luoyang, is illustrated by B. Karlgren, "Bronzes in the Hellström Collection", BMFEA 20, 1948, pl. 39:3.

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