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A VERY FINE AND IMPORTANT CHINESE BRONZE TAPIR-FORM VESSEL XIZUN, QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD (1736 - 1795)
The finely cast creature stands four-square, its mouth slightly agape beneath a curled snout, with pointed ears set behind arched, flame-like brows, supporting a Zun formed vessel upon its back. It is presented on a finely carved fitted hongmu stand.
This vessel offers a playful yet erudite reinterpretation of archaic bronze forms, embodying both reverence for antiquity and the projection of imperial authority. Its silhouette and decoration derive from Warring States prototypes (475-221 BC), which display comparable forms and motifs.
The identity of the animal has long been debated-variously described as a mythological beast, rhinoceros, or tapir. The latter is now regarded as the most plausible, with archaeological evidence suggesting that tapirs, though long extinct in China, inhabited the region as early as 200,000 BC.
Such archaistic bronzes stem from the antiquarian revival of the Northern Song, championed by Emperor Huizong (960-1127), whose Xuanhe Bogu tulu (Illustrated Catalogue of Antiques) includes a tapir-shaped vessel. The fashion for zoomorphic bronzes continued through the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, culminating in the monumental Xiqing gujian (Catalogue of Xiqing Antiquities), commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor and completed under Liang Shizheng (1697-1763) in 1751. This encyclopaedic work epitomised the emperor's vision of restoring the "ancient ways" and the moral virtue associated with antiquity.
Comparable examples include a cloisonné enamel tapir-form zun, Qianlong mark and period, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, published in Enamel Ware in the Ming and Ch'ing Dynasty, Taipei, 1999, no. 43; and a Ming dynasty gold- and silver-inlaid tapir vessel in the Cernuschi Museum, Paris (acc. no. M.C.583). See also a bronze tapir-form xizun, Qianlong mark and period, sold at Christie's London, 3 November 2020, lot 90; and a related gold- and silver-inlaid tapir zun, 17th/18th century, sold at Christie's New York, 13 February 2018, lot 108.
清乾隆 銅犀尊 配紅木底座
此器鑄造精良，神獸四足穩立，口鼻微張，耳尖後伏於火焰狀眉下，背負尊形器，置於紅木座上。
其形制源自戰國青銅原型，既承古意，又寓帝王威儀。關於獸形歷來說法不一，或為神獸、犀牛，今則多認為為貘。考古證據顯示，雖貘早已在中國絕跡，然早於二十萬年前即棲息於此地。
此類仿古器始於宋徽宗（960–1127）提倡的古器復興，《宣和博古圖錄》載有貘形器例。其風尚延續至元明清，乾隆帝尤為推崇，命梁詩正於1751年編纂《西清古鑑》，收錄多件同類。
可參考之例包括：臺北故宮乾隆款掐絲琺瑯貘形尊（《明清琺瑯器》，1999，編號43）；巴黎賽努奇博物館明代錯金銀貘形尊（館藏編號 M.C.583）；另見倫敦佳士得2020年11月3日拍賣會（拍品90）乾隆款銅貘形犧尊，以及紐約佳士得2018年2月13日拍賣會（拍品108）十七／十八世紀錯金銀貘形尊。
源流：
倫敦Spink & Son Ltd.（器底及座附標籤）。
30cm high; 23cm wide, 8.7kg weight (not including stand)
Unsold
Lot 70
The finely cast creature stands four-square, its mouth slightly agape beneath a curled snout, with pointed ears set behind arched, flame-like brows, supporting a Zun formed vessel upon its back. It is presented on a finely carved fitted hongmu stand.
This vessel offers a playful yet erudite reinterpretation of archaic bronze forms, embodying both reverence for antiquity and the projection of imperial authority. Its silhouette and decoration derive from Warring States prototypes (475-221 BC), which display comparable forms and motifs.
The identity of the animal has long been debated-variously described as a mythological beast, rhinoceros, or tapir. The latter is now regarded as the most plausible, with archaeological evidence suggesting that tapirs, though long extinct in China, inhabited the region as early as 200,000 BC.
Such archaistic bronzes stem from the antiquarian revival of the Northern Song, championed by Emperor Huizong (960-1127), whose Xuanhe Bogu tulu (Illustrated Catalogue of Antiques) includes a tapir-shaped vessel. The fashion for zoomorphic bronzes continued through the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, culminating in the monumental Xiqing gujian (Catalogue of Xiqing Antiquities), commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor and completed under Liang Shizheng (1697-1763) in 1751. This encyclopaedic work epitomised the emperor's vision of restoring the "ancient ways" and the moral virtue associated with antiquity.
Comparable examples include a cloisonné enamel tapir-form zun, Qianlong mark and period, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, published in Enamel Ware in the Ming and Ch'ing Dynasty, Taipei, 1999, no. 43; and a Ming dynasty gold- and silver-inlaid tapir vessel in the Cernuschi Museum, Paris (acc. no. M.C.583). See also a bronze tapir-form xizun, Qianlong mark and period, sold at Christie's London, 3 November 2020, lot 90; and a related gold- and silver-inlaid tapir zun, 17th/18th century, sold at Christie's New York, 13 February 2018, lot 108.
清乾隆 銅犀尊 配紅木底座
此器鑄造精良，神獸四足穩立，口鼻微張，耳尖後伏於火焰狀眉下，背負尊形器，置於紅木座上。
其形制源自戰國青銅原型，既承古意，又寓帝王威儀。關於獸形歷來說法不一，或為神獸、犀牛，今則多認為為貘。考古證據顯示，雖貘早已在中國絕跡，然早於二十萬年前即棲息於此地。
此類仿古器始於宋徽宗（960–1127）提倡的古器復興，《宣和博古圖錄》載有貘形器例。其風尚延續至元明清，乾隆帝尤為推崇，命梁詩正於1751年編纂《西清古鑑》，收錄多件同類。
可參考之例包括：臺北故宮乾隆款掐絲琺瑯貘形尊（《明清琺瑯器》，1999，編號43）；巴黎賽努奇博物館明代錯金銀貘形尊（館藏編號 M.C.583）；另見倫敦佳士得2020年11月3日拍賣會（拍品90）乾隆款銅貘形犧尊，以及紐約佳士得2018年2月13日拍賣會（拍品108）十七／十八世紀錯金銀貘形尊。
源流：
倫敦Spink & Son Ltd.（器底及座附標籤）。
30cm high; 23cm wide, 8.7kg weight (not including stand)
Estimate $50,000 - $70,000