Lot 705
705
SIX SMALL SILVER BIRD-FORM FINIALS
This lot is offered without reserve.
SIX SMALL SILVER BIRD-FORM FINIALS

CHINA, HAN DYNASTY (206 BC-AD 220)

Details
SIX SMALL SILVER BIRD-FORM FINIALS
CHINA, HAN DYNASTY (206 BC-AD 220)
Each stylized bird almost identically cast with long tail and its head turned toward its back, the beak just touching its wing feathers
2 ¼ in. (5.8 cm.) long, box
330 g
Provenance
The Collection of Robert H. Ellsworth, New York, acquired in Hong Kong, 1991.
Special notice
This lot is offered without reserve.

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Gemma Sudlow
Gemma Sudlow

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212 636 2000

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Lot Essay

Compare the bronze bird-form finial exhibited by J.J. Lally & Co., Arts of Ancient China, New York, 31 May-23 June 1990, no. 8, where it is noted that during the Han period it was customary for men who had reached seventy years of age to be granted a royal staff (wang chang, 'king's staff') decorated with a finial in the form of a dove. Displaying such a finial on one's staff was a great honor and would have afforded the owner great respect and special privileges.

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