SMALL SILVER-INLAID BRONZE VASE, FANGHU
SHISOU MARK, QING DYNASTY, 17TH-18TH CENTURY
£2,268
Fine Asian & Islamic Works of Art
Auction: 16 May 2023 from 10:00 BST
Description
清 石叟款 銅錯銀絲饕餮耳方壺
of square baluster form, shoulders flanked by a pair of silver wire-inlaid taotie mask handles over an archaistic zoomorphic design, mouth and foot further inlaid with key-fret, the base inlaid with a two-character 'Shi Sou' mark
Dimensions
10.2cm high; 427g
Footnote
Note: Compare to a slightly bigger (13.3 cm high) silver-inlaid square-section bronze vase, attributed to Shi Sou and dated to the 17th-18th century, in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 2015.273. According to the catalogue, vases of this nature would have served as flower vases or for holding tongs and spatulas for the practice of incense burning. Also compare to a similar silver-inlaid bronze vase, fanghu, with Shi Sou mark and dated to the 17th-18th century, sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 7 Oct 2014, lot 3361.