HAN DYNASTY

Details

A bronze incense burner, cover and stand
Han Dynasty
The cup-shaped bowl raised on a high foot modelled as a large bird balancing on a turtle, the cover pierced as scrollwork, all supported on a stand shaped as a dish with a small central aperture, green encrustation and slight old damage
20.5 cm. high

Special notice

Christie's charge a buyer's premium of 20.825% of the hammer price for lots with values up to NLG 200,000. If the hammer price exceeds the NLG 200,000 then the premium is calculated at 20.825% of the first NLG 200,000 plus 11.9% of any amount in excess of NLG 200,000.

Lot Essay

See for a similar example R. Lefebvre d'Argencé, Ancient Chinese bronzes in the Avery Brundage collection, 1966, Berkeley, p.120, pl.LVB, where it is stated that 'according to contemporary texts the lower basin symbolized the Taoist Grey Jade Ocean, and the cover of the bowl represented Mount P'eng Lai, the Great Central Mountain of Taoist paradise, in the middle of that ocean. The link between the ocean and the mountain can be an animal or a human figure for by now Man is well established in his intermediate position between Heaven and Earth.'

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