AN EXCEPTIONALLY RARE INSCRIBED BRONZE PAPERWEIGHT EASTERN ZHOU DYNASTY OR LATER |

the ring base crisply cast to the top in low relief with a continuous band of intertwined dragons, centered by three struts arranged in a Y-shaped formation, each decorated with pairs of short diagonal striations divided by a vertical line, all surmounted by a buckle modeled in the form of a tortoise-like mythical beast with an uplifted tail and a snake coiled on its shell, with its body forming a rectangle decorated with two bands of key fret, the beast clasping and biting on a further rectangle set to the front with a raised long-snouted mythical creature head, the underside inscribed with a eight-character inscription reading shuX jiangXX zuo zhenzhi (paperweight made by Jiang XX)

C.T. Loo, New York, 2nd August 1954.
Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978).

Exhibition of Chinese Arts, C.T. Loo & Co., New York, 1941, cat. no. 157.

In overall good condition with some wear and minor casting imperfections.
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.

The present lot is a mysterious object made by combining a belt buckle-form fitting on top of a circular ring with three struts. The bottom part resembles a type of ancient harness fitting, such as one in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, attributed to the late Zhou dynasty, illustrated in Museum van aziatische kunst in het rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 1962, cat. no. 21; and another, attributed to the Han dynasty, sold in our London rooms, 17th November 1970.

Apart from the present lot, two other nearly identical examples are known. One from the Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection, now in the Seattle Art Museum, catalogued as a harness buckle and attributed to the late Spring and Autumn period to early Warring States period, is illustrated in Michael Knight, Early Chinese Metalwork in the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, 1989, p. 23, no. 12, where the author notes its design in association with the foundries at Houma, Shanxi province. The other from the collection of W. van der Mandele, illustrated in H.F.E. Visser, Asiatic Art in Private Collections of Holland and Belgium, New York, 1952, pl. 32, no. 66, where the author states that it is probably an archaistic piece in the style of the late Zhou period.

While the date and function of these objects remains surrounded in mystery, the present lot is in fact inscribed to the underside, while the other two examples are not, with an eight-character inscription in dazhuan (large seal script), identifying it as a paperweight. The inscription on the present lot further perplexes the identification and attribution of these objects, as no other bronze paperweights of this form or style from ancient China appear to be recorded, which may suggest a possible post-archaic attribution.