A RARE SILVER-INLAID BRONZE 'BEAST HEAD' CHARIOT ORNAMENT WARRING STATES PERIOD - HAN DYNASTY |

well modeled in the form of feline head with fine lines of silver inlay defining the details, the broad snout with a wide open mouth leading to a hollow interior and open at the back, the pair of almond-shaped eyes surmounted by bushy brows and large rounded ears, the surface with minor areas of malachite encrustation

C.T. Loo, New York, 19th April 1951.
Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978).

In overall good condition with the top cleaned and some stabilized minor chips. Some minor losses to the silver inlay and expected minor surface wear.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Bronze beast head-form fittings of this type were used as chariot ornaments, as evidenced by two similar parcel-gilt bronze examples discovered inside the carriage remnants of a chariot from the tomb of the Prince of Qi of the Western Han dynasty in Linzi, Shandong province, published in Zibo Museum, 'Xihan Qiwangmu suizangqiwukeng [The Funerary Pits round the Princely Tomb of Qi Kingdom of the Western Han Dynasty]', Kaogu xuebao/Acta Archaeologica Sinica, vol. 2, Beijing, 1985, fig. 23-3. For other ornaments of the same type, see a silver-inlaid bronze example, modeled in the form of a similar feline head, from the Eastern Zhou period, 4th-3rd century B.C., exhibited in Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1990, cat. no. 104; another inscribed to the underside with two characters reading zuozheng, in the Museum of East Asian Art, Cologne, included in the exhibition Unearthing China's Past, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1973, cat. no. 16; a third exhibited in Chinese Archaic Bronzes, Sculpture and Works of Art, J.J. Lally & Co., New York, 1992, cat. no. 31; and an undecorated example, attributed to the Han dynasty, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, acc. no. 18.43.1.