WESTERN HAN DYNASTY, CIRCA 3RD-2ND CENTURY BC

Details

AN UNUSUAL BRONZE SCOOP
WESTERN HAN DYNASTY, CIRCA 3RD-2ND CENTURY BC
The deep, rounded bowl has an everted rim leading into the hollowed handle which is cast on the interior with two characters, Er'rong, possibly a name, and is spanned at the curved end by a mask with bird-like tail. There is mottled milky green encrustation inside and out.
10½ in. (26.8 cm.) long, stand

Provenance

J.T. Tai & Co., New York, prior to 1977.
Arthur M. Sackler Collections; Christie's New York, 24 March 2011, lot 1203.

Lot Essay

The mask with the tail-like extension at the end of the handle is similar to that seen on a small gilt-bronze garment hook, dated to the Han dynasty, illustrated in Ars Asiatica - VII - Documents d'Art Chinois de la Collection Osvald Sirén, Paris/Brussels, 1925, pl. IX, no. 173.

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