A very rare bronze placque

Estimated Value:

10.000 € - 15.000 €

Result:

33.670 € incl. Premium and VAT

Description:

China, late Xia/early Shang period, 16th-15th c. BC.
H. 14,7 cm
Slightly domed bronze plaque decorated with an animal mask or a crouching animal in top view, with small turquoise inlays, mainly square in shape. The exact function of this plaque remains uncertain. Three comparable examples were discovered between 1981 and 1986 during excavations at Erlitou, Henan Province, in areas V and VI (tombs 4, 11, and 57); among them, the plaque from tomb 11, dating to the late Erlitou phase (c. 16th-15th century BC) and already transitioning into the early Shang period, is particularly close to the present piece in both decoration and size. Two of the excavated plaques were found at chest level of the deceased, leading scholars to refer to them as chest ornaments. The earlier assumption, proposed by Loehr, Poor, and others-that plaques of this type, together with crescent-shaped pendants such as the preceding catalogue number, may have formed part of horse bridles is no longer tenable, since the excavated examples were found directly on or beside the body of the deceased, no horse burials or chariots have been discovered at Erlitou or in other tombs of the Erlitou culture / Xia dynasty (c. 1900-1500 BC), and turquoise inlays on bronze objects disappear after Erlitou and only reappear much later, in the late Shang period (c. 1600-11th century BC). A striking feature of both the excavated pieces and the present example is the remarkably well-preserved condition of the turquoise inlays. Bronze with green-grey corrosion; turquoise inlays. Weight: 160 g
Old German private collection, according to the owner, in the family since around 1920
Cf. Loehr, Max: Relics from Ancient China from the Collection of Dr. Paul Singer, New York, 1965, no. 19; Poor, Robert J.: Ancient Chinese bronzes, ceramics and jade in the Collection of the Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu, 1975, no. 13; Zhongguo meishu quanji, Gongyi meishu bian, vol. 4, Qingtong qi; ("Vollständige Sammlung chinesischer Kunst / Complete collection of Chinese art", "Vollständige Sammlung Kunsthandwerk/ Complete collection of arts and crafts"), vol. 4, ("Bronzeobjekte / Bronze objects"), Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1985, no. 3, plate 3 (excavated in 1981 in Erlitou, Henan Province); Bagley, Robert W.: Shang ritual bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. I of Ancient Chinese bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Washington/Cambridge: The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation and Harvard University Press, 1987, fig.11, p. 67, bronze plaque with turquoise inlay from Erlitou, l: 14.2 cm (same plaque as illustrated in Qingtong qi, 1985, no. 3); Gems of China's Cultural Relics, Beijing: Cultural Relics Publishing House, 1992, no. 87; Catalogue of the Miho Museum (South Wing), Miho: The Miho Museum, 1997, no. 77; Croes, Gisele: From the Ancient Kingdoms to Imperial China, Brussels: Arts d'Extröme-Orient, 1998, pp. 22+23, bronze and turquoise plaque, 15.1 x 10.3 cm (simpler in design); Yang, Xiaoneng (ed.): The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology - Celebrated Discoveries from the People's Republic of China, Washington: Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, 1999, p. 140 + no. 38, pp.146+147 are from Erlitou, Yanshi, Henan Province and are dated to Period II of the Erlitou culture, c. 1800-1700 BC) - Minor losses to inlays, partially slightly chipped

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