A BRONZE BIRD-HEADED FINIAL

NORTHWEST CHINA, 5TH-4TH CENTURY BC

Details

A BRONZE BIRD-HEADED FINIAL
NORTHWEST CHINA, 5TH-4TH CENTURY BC
The finial is formed by a tube cast at the top with the head of a raptor and pierced on one side below the head with a hole for attachment to a pole.
2 7/8 in. (7.3 cm.) high

Provenance

The Erwin Harris Collection, Miami, Florida, by 1995.

Literature

J. F. So and E. C. Bunker, Traders and Raiders on China's Northern Frontier, Washington D.C., Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 1995, p. 121, no. 38.

Lot Essay

Compare two bronze bird-headed pole finials of this type illustrated by A. Salmony, Sino-Siberian Art in the Collection of C. T. Loo, Paris, 1933, pl. VI (3 and 4). Each is described as the head of an eagle.

More from The Harris Collection: Important Early Chinese Art

View All