LOT 1028  A Large Chinese Bronze 'He' Vessel with Gold and Silver Inlay  

宋 大型铜错金银仿古紋盉 Of archaistic he form, cast with a bulbous body resting on three splayed and waisted le...

宋 大型铜错金银仿古紋盉 Of archaistic he form, cast with a bulbous body resting on three splayed and waisted legs and surmounted by a waisted neck and flared rim, the shoulder flanked by a long tapering cylindrical spout and a loop handle projecting from a bovine mask, each lobe decorated with gold and silver-inlaid taotie masks, the neck further decorated band of stylized bird motifs , the domed cover similarly inlaid with stylized motifs. Song Dynasty period. Height: 14 5/8 in (37.0 cm) Width: 10 3/4 in (27.0 cm) Provenance: From the Collection of Mr. Watanabe, Torrance, California, passed down through the family. This vessel is modeled after the bronze he of the Shang and Zhou dynasties. A comparable example can be found in the National Palace Museum in Taipei, featuring a late Shang dynasty bronze he. 此件器物仿商周青銅盉而作，侈口高頸，下部有三個袋形腹，腹底承以三柱足。腹前有斜直流，頸與腹後設半環形鋬。頂有半環鈕，蓋緣末端有環，與鋬上環以活環相連。蓋、頸部、腹部紋飾均以錯金銀方式呈現對稱鳳鳥紋。青銅盉在商代早期已出現，盛行於商代晚期至西周。銘文中自名為盉的器物出現在西周，同時有銘文將盉與盤並稱，擔任了匜的功能。因此推測，盉很有可能是盛水用來調和酒濃淡之用。可參考臺北故宮博物院藏商代晚期青銅盉。