A SMALL BRONZE OVAL OIL LAMP

HAN DYNASTY (206 BC - AD 220)

Details

A SMALL BRONZE OVAL OIL LAMP
HAN DYNASTY (206 BC - AD 220)
The lamp is made in the shape of an ear cup and raised on a narrow foot ring. One side of the cover is hinged and has a spout at one end and a pricket on the interior. The cover is divided into quadrants cast with dragons and tigers separated by a central panel cast with inscriptions, one reading yi zi sun, and set with tiny loops similar to a third at one end of the lamp. The dragon and tiger motifs are repeated on the handles, and another tiger is shown confronting a bear on the base.
4 in. (10.2 cm.) long

Provenance

Kinpei Takeuchi (1873-1960).
Ryichi Sano (1889-1977), acquired in Tokyo, 1950s.
Sano Art Museum, Mishima, Japan.

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Lot Essay

A very similar bronze oil lamp, also dated to the Han dynasty, is illustrated in The Complete Treasures of the Palace Museum - Bronze Articles for Daily Use, Hong Kong 2006, no. 90. Like the present lamp, it is inscribed yi zi sun ji ('blessings for future generations'), in the center panel of one cover. Another similar lamp is illustrated by C.F. Kelley and Chen Mengjia in Chinese Bronzes from the Buckingham Collection, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1946, p. 199, pl. LXIX.

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