11th Apr, 2024 11:00
TWO-DAY AUCTION: Fine Asian Art, Buddhism and Hinduism
66
A GOLD AND SILVER-INLAID IRON FIGURE OF A PIG, WARRING STATES PERIOD TO HAN DYNASTY
Sold for €7,800
including Buyer's Premium
China, 5th century BC to 2nd century AD. Well cast as a sow standing foursquare on an oval frame, the body finely inlaid in gilt and silver with archaic motifs, the face with almond-shaped eyes and a prominent snout.
Provenance: From the collection of Mary McFadden. Mary McFadden (born 1938) is an American art collector, editor, fashion designer, and writer, who was born in New York City. During the 1960s she worked as the director of public relations for Dior New York. After marrying Philip Harari, a merchant for De Beers diamonds, they relocated to South Africa, where she worked as an editor for the South African Vogue from 1968 to 1970. In 1976 she established her own clothing company Mary McFadden Inc. and in 2012 she published a book titled ‘Mary McFadden: A Lifetime of Design, Collecting, and Adventure’.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, signs of weathering and erosion, corrosion, encrustations, small losses, nicks, scratches, dents, and casting flaws.
Weight: 1.1 kg
Dimensions: Length 18 cm
Expert’s note: Bronze and precious metal animal forms were popular in the Eastern Zhou and Han periods, however examples shaped as a pig or cast from iron are exceptionally rare. For a gold-inlaid iron mirror, dated late Eastern Han dynasty to early Six Dynasties period, formerly in the Carl Kempe Collection, see Sotheby’s London, 14 May 2008, lot 34. Compare a related gold and silver-inlaid iron finial, also dated Warring States period to Han dynasty, at Sotheby’s New York, 10 September 2019, lot 239.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 20 March 2015, lot 706
Price: USD 125,000 or approx. EUR 149,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A pair of small gold and silver-inlaid bronze animals, China, Warring States or later
Expert remark: Compare the closely related style of inlay. Note the smaller size (8 cm), and that the lot comprises a pair.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 16 September 2010, lot 907
Price: USD 68,500 or approx. EUR 88,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare small gold and silver-inlaid bronze tortoise-form weight, late Warring States period/Western Han dynasty, 3rd-2nd century BC
Expert remark: Compare the related animal subject as well as the gold and silver inlays. Note the smaller size (5 cm).
China, 5th century BC to 2nd century AD. Well cast as a sow standing foursquare on an oval frame, the body finely inlaid in gilt and silver with archaic motifs, the face with almond-shaped eyes and a prominent snout.
Provenance: From the collection of Mary McFadden. Mary McFadden (born 1938) is an American art collector, editor, fashion designer, and writer, who was born in New York City. During the 1960s she worked as the director of public relations for Dior New York. After marrying Philip Harari, a merchant for De Beers diamonds, they relocated to South Africa, where she worked as an editor for the South African Vogue from 1968 to 1970. In 1976 she established her own clothing company Mary McFadden Inc. and in 2012 she published a book titled ‘Mary McFadden: A Lifetime of Design, Collecting, and Adventure’.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, signs of weathering and erosion, corrosion, encrustations, small losses, nicks, scratches, dents, and casting flaws.
Weight: 1.1 kg
Dimensions: Length 18 cm
Expert’s note: Bronze and precious metal animal forms were popular in the Eastern Zhou and Han periods, however examples shaped as a pig or cast from iron are exceptionally rare. For a gold-inlaid iron mirror, dated late Eastern Han dynasty to early Six Dynasties period, formerly in the Carl Kempe Collection, see Sotheby’s London, 14 May 2008, lot 34. Compare a related gold and silver-inlaid iron finial, also dated Warring States period to Han dynasty, at Sotheby’s New York, 10 September 2019, lot 239.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 20 March 2015, lot 706
Price: USD 125,000 or approx. EUR 149,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A pair of small gold and silver-inlaid bronze animals, China, Warring States or later
Expert remark: Compare the closely related style of inlay. Note the smaller size (8 cm), and that the lot comprises a pair.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 16 September 2010, lot 907
Price: USD 68,500 or approx. EUR 88,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare small gold and silver-inlaid bronze tortoise-form weight, late Warring States period/Western Han dynasty, 3rd-2nd century BC
Expert remark: Compare the related animal subject as well as the gold and silver inlays. Note the smaller size (5 cm).
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