A BRONZE SCULPTURE OF AN EARTH SPIRIT OR CHIMERA

Description:

China, Sui dynasty or earlier
L. 31 cm
Cast bronze with thin, relatively even grey-green patina, with a gnomish face, long horn at the back of the head, large pointed ears, strongly curved long body, wings decorated with fine plumage and a tail emerging from a mask, an opening in front of it, presumably for a now lost ornament.
From the Zeileis collection, assembled in the 1980s and 90s
Published in: Friedrich Georg Zeileis, 'Von Shang bis Qing, Dreieinhalb Jahrtausende Chinesische Bronze', Gallspach, 1999, no. 150, pp. 366-367 - Cf. an earthenware figure similar in physiognomy in the Sichuan Provincial Museum, Chengdu, published in Orientations, February 1998, p. 50 - Minor restorations