A PAIR OF SMALL GOLD AND SILVER-INLAID BRONZE ANIMALS
This lot is offered without reserve.
A PAIR OF SMALL GOLD AND SILVER-INLAID BRONZE ANIMALS

CHINA, WARRING STATES PERIOD OR LATER

Details
A PAIR OF SMALL GOLD AND SILVER-INLAID BRONZE ANIMALS
CHINA, WARRING STATES PERIOD OR LATER
Each shown crouching with head facing forward and long tail flicked up onto the left side, the solid body inlaid in gold and silver with details and decoration on the head, and on the body below the silver dotted backbone, with areas of green and brown encrustation
3 1/8 in. (8 cm.) long, boxes
Provenance
The Collection of Robert H. Ellsworth, New York, before 2000.
Special notice
This lot is offered without reserve.

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Gemma Sudlow
Gemma Sudlow

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Lot Essay

When reading, studying, or conversing outdoors with friends and colleagues, Chinese gentlemen of ancient times often sat on mats of woven bamboo strips, the four corners of the unfurled mat anchored with matching animal-shaped weights to prevent the mat from folding back on itself if animated by a breeze or a shift in the gentleman’s position.

Compare the silver and gold-inlaid bronze weight in the form of a tortoise dated to the late Warring States period-Western Han dynasty, 3rd-2nd century BC, from the Sze Yuan Tang Collection, sold at Christie’s New York, 16 September 2010, lot 907.

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