Four archaic bronze chariot fittings, Western Zhou dynasty | 西周 青銅獸面飾四件

One Pair:

Collection of E.K. Burnett.

Collection of Sir Neill Malcolm K.C.B., D.S.O. (1869-1953).

Collection of Captain Dugald Malcolm C.M.G., C.V.O., T.D. (1917-2000). 

Sotheby's London, 29th March 1977, lot 35.

Both Pairs:

J.T. Tai, New York.

Offered at Sotheby's New York, 22nd March 2011, lot 40.

其中一對：

E.K. Burnett 收藏

Neill Malcolm 爵士 K.C.B., D.S.O. (1869-1953) 收藏

Dugald Malcolm 上尉 C.M.G., C.V.O., T.D. (1917-2000) 收藏

倫敦蘇富比1977年3月29日，編號35

兩對：

戴潤齋，紐約

上拍於紐約蘇富比2011年3月22日，編號40

One Pair:

W. Percival Yetts, 'Notes on Some Chinese Bronzes,' Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 19, London, 1942-1943, pp 55-56, pl. 22.

William Watson, Cultural Frontiers in Ancient East Asia, Edinburgh, 1971, pls 44a-b.

其中一對：

葉茲，〈Notes on Some Chinese Bronzes〉，《Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society》，卷19，倫敦，1942至1943年，頁55至56，圖版22

William Watson，《Cultural Frontiers in Ancient East Asia》，愛丁堡，1971年，圖版44a及44b

One Pair:

Exhibition of Early Chinese Bronzes, Oriental Ceramic Society, London, 1951, cat. no. 79.

其中一對：

《Exhibition of Early Chinese Bronzes》，東方陶瓷學會，倫敦，1951年，編號79

During the Zhou dynasty, chariots were vital for military warfare, and those of the elite were fitted with ornate finials and attachments. Referred to as tiger-heads or tiger-dragons, the ferocious feline aspect of the beast-form fittings convey power and would have been suitable ornamentation for a chariot. In his description, Watson identifies the present pair as cheek-pieces and among the earliest surviving examples of bridle bits, noting that the distinctive wide loop attachments were a Chinese innovation to secure the bit which, unlike Near Eastern fittings, were not fixed but rather inserted or tied into place (see William Watson, Cultural Frontiers in Ancient East Asia, Edinburgh, 1971, p. 65).

A related set of four is in the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge (accession nos 1943.52.27.a,b,c,d). Another closely related pair is published in Maxwell K. Hearn, Ancient Chinese Art: The Ernest Erickson Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1987, nos 43 and 44. See also a group of five in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, illustrated in Sueji Umehara, Shina Kodo Seiwa / Selected Relics of Ancient Chinese Bronzes from Collections in Europe and America, part. III, vol. II, Osaka, 1933, pl. 115.