A RARE MINIATURE GOLD AND SILVER-INLAID BRONZE TORTOISE WEIGHT

LATE WARRING STATES PERIOD/EARLY WESTERN HAN DYNASTY, 3RD CENTURY BC

Details

A RARE MINIATURE GOLD AND SILVER-INLAID BRONZE TORTOISE WEIGHT
LATE WARRING STATES PERIOD/EARLY WESTERN HAN DYNASTY, 3RD CENTURY BC
Solid cast standing on squat legs, the raised head and neck decorated in gold and silver with scrolls and the eyes inlaid with silver beads, the carapace inlaid with a fine diamond grid pattern of gold wires surrounding silver inlay, within a narrow outer border above spiralled scrolls on the legs, the claws also inlaid, with an inscription cast in the underside
1 15/16 in. (5 cm.) long

Lot Essay

Tortoise-form weights of this date appear to be quite rare. Another of similar size also inlaid in gold and silver is illustrated by Li Xueqin, Glorious Traditions of Chinese Bronzes, From the Anthony and Susan Hardy Collections and the Sze Yuan Tang, Singapore, 2000, no. 80. As with the present weight the head is extended. The inlaid decoration is related but not exactly similar, being somewhat simpler in style.

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