A VERY RARE BRONZE ‘TIGER AND SNAKE’ LAMP, WARRING STATES-HAN DYNASTY

拍品描述

A VERY RARE BRONZE ‘TIGER AND SNAKE’ LAMP, WARRING STATES-HAN DYNASTY China, 475 BC-220 AD. Skillfully cast in two parts, the powerful beast depicted in a dynamic stance with splayed legs, and the muscular haunches raised, the body terminating in a long tail curled to one side. Its head is dramatically turned, detailed with alert circular eyes and pricked ears, the jaws opened wide around a sinuous serpent that coils around the beast’s torso before rising vertically from its mouth to form the stem supporting the shallow circular drip pan, centered by a tall pricket. (2) Dimensions: Height 14.6 cm (total) Bronze lamps reached the height of sculptural invention during the late Eastern Zhou and Han periods, when the practical elements of base, stem, and dish were transformed into miniature works of art. Figures frequently appear in composite groups, ingenious constructions in which animal (and sometimes also human) bodies form the very architecture of the lamp. Costly bronze examples such as present lot were furnishings of the court and elite households, and their frequent recovery from princely tombs attests to the value placed upon them. Practical function, technical ingenuity, and the animated worlds of nature and myth are thus fused in a single object. The present lamp offers a remarkably rare and dramatic variation on this tradition. The spirited tiger is more often utilized as a coiled weight, a finial, or support, and tiger-form oil lamps are seldom encountered, as these objects tend to take the form of more docile animals such as the water buffalo, oxen, and ram. The tiger is an image charged in early China with power, courage, and protection, while the serpent is one of the oldest numinous creatures in Chinese art and an emblem of vitality, transformation, and the mysterious forces of nature. Serpents were particularly prominent in the visual culture of Chu during the Eastern Zhou period. Here the two animals are fused into a single ascending composition: the feline presses close to the ground, its head twisting sharply and jaws opening wide, while the serpent draws the eye upward toward the lamp dish and ultimately the flame. The image gains exceptional energy from this opposition of mass and line, horizontal force, and vertical ascent. Literature comparison: Compare a related gilt-bronze lamp in the form of a deer, dated to the Western Han dynasty, 2nd century BC, excavated from Tomb 1, Dayun Mountain, Jiangsu, and now in the Nanjing Museum. Auction result comparison: Type: Related Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 26 August 2021, lot 1092 Price: HKD 201,600 or approx. EUR 24,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Expert remark: Compare the related form, manner of casting, and subject, albeit also including a human figure. Note the height (10 cm). Auction result comparison: Type: Related Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 18 October 2023, lot 546 Price: HKD 165,100 or approx. EUR 19,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Expert remark: Compare the related form, animal decorative subject, and manner of casting. Note the size (21.2 cm). Auction result comparison: Type: Related Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 3 December 2021, lot 808 Price: HKD 378,000 or approx. EUR 46,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Expert remark: Compare the related form and manner of casting with similar snake-form shaft. Note the much taller height (55.2 cm).

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