.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
This rare example of an incised silver dragon-head handle is an unusual Eastern Han variation on pieces which were typically made from gilt-bronze during the earlier stages of the Han dynasty. J. Rawson and E. Bunker in Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1990, no. 117, suggest that dragon-shaped handles were used on lacquer vessels, grasped over and under the top of the head, with the beard acting as a brace for the little finger, though other examples have been identified as finials and chariot fittings.
Compare this piece with a gilt-bronze dragon-head handle excavated in 1976-77 from the Eastern Han tomb of Xianyu Huang dated to 165 AD, located in Wuqing county, Hebei province; see Kaogu xuebao, 1982:3, pp. 351-66, pl. 19, fig. 2. Another similar Han dynasty handle excavated from tomb no. 2 at Ganguan, in Hanjiang, Jiangsu province, illustrated in Wenwu, 1981:11, pl. 2, fig. 5, and in a line drawing on p. 6, fig. 15. A similar piece from the collection of A. Stoclet, Brussels, was included in The International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1935-6, fig. 541. Compare, also, a dragon head lent by Charlotte C. and John C. Weber to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, illustrated by J. Watt in his article 'The Arts of Ancient China', p. 40, no. 49, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Summer 1990. The author notes that Han dynasty depictions of the dragon were greatly influenced by images of the 'heavenly horse' so revered during this period.
Compare this piece with a gilt-bronze dragon-head handle excavated in 1976-77 from the Eastern Han tomb of Xianyu Huang dated to 165 AD, located in Wuqing county, Hebei province; see Kaogu xuebao, 1982:3, pp. 351-66, pl. 19, fig. 2. Another similar Han dynasty handle excavated from tomb no. 2 at Ganguan, in Hanjiang, Jiangsu province, illustrated in Wenwu, 1981:11, pl. 2, fig. 5, and in a line drawing on p. 6, fig. 15. A similar piece from the collection of A. Stoclet, Brussels, was included in The International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1935-6, fig. 541. Compare, also, a dragon head lent by Charlotte C. and John C. Weber to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, illustrated by J. Watt in his article 'The Arts of Ancient China', p. 40, no. 49, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Summer 1990. The author notes that Han dynasty depictions of the dragon were greatly influenced by images of the 'heavenly horse' so revered during this period.