A pair of embellished gold and silver-inlaid bronze weights, Eastern Zhou dynasty, Warring States period | 東周戰國時期 銅錯金銀嵌寶虎噬鹿鎮紙一對

Oriental Bronzes Ltd, London, 1995.

Oriental Bronzes Ltd，倫敦，1995年

A closely related gold and silver-inlaid bronze weight, cast with a tiger and a boar, is in the collection of the British Museum, accession no. 1982,0402.1, where Jessica Rawson notes that the life and death struggle of the two animals is very different from the static, almost timeless, stance of creatures depicted on early bronzes and that animals in combat were favourite subjects in the Near East and among China's nomadic neighbours, such as the peoples whose lords were buried in the frozen tombs of Pazyryk in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia. It is probable that nomadic woodwork, textiles and bronze were known to the Chinese, who adapted similar scenes from them for the inlaid bronzes.

A closely related example, but inscribed and attributed to the Han dynasty, formerly in the collections of George de Menasce and J.M.A.J. Dawson, was sold recently in these rooms, 13th October 2021, lot 3674.

倫敦大英博物館藏相類錯金銀銅熊虎鎮紙，藏品編號 1982,0402.1，羅森指出，兩動物之間的生死博鬥，與古代青銅器上幾乎永恆之靜態描繪折然不同。這類題材，受近東和中國周邊游牧民族青睞，例如西伯利亞南部阿爾泰山脈帕茲里克墓主及其人民。中原或受遊牧民族木雕、織品、青銅器影響，遂製此類錯嵌工藝之銅作。

參考 George de Menasce 與 J.M.A.J. Dawson 遞藏類例，刻「日利千金富」銘，斷代為漢，近售於香港蘇富比2021年10月13日，編號3674。