A RARE BRONZE FIGURAL WATER POT AND DROPPER

HAN DYNASTY, SOUTHWEST CHINA, CIRCA 1ST CENTURY BC/1ST CENTURY AD

Details

A RARE BRONZE FIGURAL WATER POT AND DROPPER
HAN DYNASTY, SOUTHWEST CHINA, CIRCA 1ST CENTURY BC/1ST CENTURY AD
The water pot is cast as a kneeling foreigner leaning slightly backwards so that his belly protrudes, and wearing only a loin cloth. He holds a lotus bud in his right hand and a horn-shaped cup in the left. His face is cast with triangular nose and almond-shaped eyes below brows detailed with hair markings. His protruding ears are formed by coiled S-scrolls, as are the flattened curls that indicate his hair surrounding the circular collar rising from the top of the head, which is fitted with a tubular water dropper with a lower circular flange and a square flange surrounding the opening at the top. The surface has mottled green encrustation.
5½ in. (14 cm.) high, stand

Provenance

Sotheby's New York, 3 June 1992, lot 60.

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Lot Essay

This rare figure, with its coiled S-scroll curls, specific facial features and kneeling position, is related to the few other figures of this type that have been published, including one originally in the collections of Paul Huo, Beijing, Osvald Sirén, D. David-Weill, and Arthur M. Sackler, subsequently sold at Christie's New York, 14-15 September 2009, lot 24. (Fig. 1) That figure, which also had a water dropper, was reputed to be from Than Hoa, Vietnam. Two other related figures, identified as supports, were also sold at Christie's New York, one from the Sze Yuan Tang Collection, 16 September 2010, lot 877, the other 17 September 2008, lot 367. The Sze Yuan Tang Collection figure was described by Li Xueqin in The Glorious Traditions of Chinese Bronzes, Singapore, 2000, no. 99, as depicting a Central Asian or hu (barbarian).

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