RARE BRONZE 'DANCING FOREIGNER' ARROW VASE, TOUHU
MING DYNASTY, 1368-1644
£7,560
Fine Asian & Islamic Works of Art
Auction: 4 November 2022 from 10:00 GMT
Description
明 銅胡人獻舞帶鋪首四出戟投壺
the compressed globular body finely moulded with four mythical beast heads separated by four flanges, the shoulders set with recumbent lions in high relief looking back stepping on ribboned brocade balls on each side against diaper ground, the slender cylindrical neck flanked to both sides with foreigners dancing energetically swinging long sleeves and raising legs above a pair of chi-dragons, all beneath another two short cylinders attached vertically at the mouth, all raised on an octagonal stepped foot further raised on a podium with petal-shaped openwork cartouches
Dimensions
44cm high; 5400g
Provenance
Provenance: From a Scottish country house collection
Footnote
Note: Compare to some Ming dynasty bronze arrow vases touhu were sold at Bonham's Hong Kong, 29 May 2022, lot 34, 43, 46; a related bronze arrow vase cast with a large pair of high-relief foreigners, dated to the 14th-15th century, is in the British Museum, accession no. 1993,1028.1; a further comparable bronze arrow vase similarly with a stepped foot is dated to the Ming dynasty and in the collection of the Freer Gallery of Art, accession number: F1911.67