12th Oct, 2023 11:00
Chinese Archaic Jades from Old Collections / 舊藏中國古玉
1048
A RARE SOAPSTONE ‘TAOTIE’ CEREMONIAL BLADE, HAN DYNASTY
漢代皂石饕餮紋刀片
Sold for €8,450
including Buyer's Premium
China, 2nd century BC to 2nd century AD. The curved blade powerfully carved to both sides with a two-horned taotie mask with sharply detailed features such as almond-shaped eyes below elegantly curved brows centered by a cross-hatched lozenge design, framed by ruyi and scroll designs, all above a pierced round mouth. The blade is sharpened to one side, while the blunt side is pierced with two further circular apertures flanking a neatly incised rope-twist design. The opaque stone is of a mottled buff color with extensive calcification as well as russet and cloudy white inclusions. Nice polish, with an unctuous feel overall.
Provenance: Collection Huet, Paris. Hôtel des ventes Giroux, 22-23 February 1952 (according to an ancient family ledger inspected by Cabinet Portier, Paris, France, during their appraisal of the complete de Strycker estate; this ledger remains in the possession of the de Strycker family and may not be copied). Collection of Robert and Isabelle de Strycker, acquired from the above and thence by descent in the same family. One side with an old collection label. Robert de Strycker (1903-1968) was a French engineer who specialized in metallurgy. He was a Stanford graduate, a professor at the University of Leuven, a director of the Institute of Metallurgy at the Université Catholique de Louvain, and one of the most influential members of the faculty of applied sciences. After World War II, he made large contributions to France’s post-war recovery. Robert and his wife Isabelle (1915-2010) first encountered Chinese art at the British Museum during a stay in London in the 1930s. Enamored with the style and beauty, they both decided to study and collect Chinese works of art. In 1938 they eventually began to build their collection, buying from Belgian, Parisian, and English dealers. They kept close contact with the famous English collector Sir Harry Garner (1891-1977) and noted Czech collector and expert Fritz Low-Beer (1906-1976).
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive ancient wear from pre-burial worship, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations, nicks, possibly minuscule old fills, the stone with natural inclusions and fissures, some of which have developed into small hairline cracks. Naturally grown patina overall, with some areas of post-burial wear to calcification.
Weight: 355.4 g
Dimensions: Length 28.5 cm
Please click here to read the full description
The Taotie is an ancient Chinese mythological creature that was commonly emblazoned on a variety of materials during the 1st millennium BC. The first historically confirmed usage of Taotie is in the classic Zuo Zhuan, a narrative history of China written in 30 chapters between 722 and 468 BC, where it is used to refer to one of the Four Perils (Si Xiong), the four evil creatures of the world: a greedy and gluttonous son of the Jinyun clan, who lived during the time of the mythical Yellow Emperor. Within the Zuo Zhuan, taotie is used by the writer to identify a glutton.
Literature comparison:
Compare two related soapstone animal masks unearthed in 1978 from Western Han tombs in Maxiping, Xupu, and another unearthed from an Eastern Han tomb in Guojiapu, Changde, all three now in the Hunan Provincial Museum. Compare a related jade love token ornament, depicting a similarly carved grotesque face, 12.4 cm wide, also dated to the Han dynasty, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 18.43.14. Compare a related jade hu-form vessel with a similar taotie mask handle, dated to the Eastern Han dynasty, at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 9 October 2020, lot 3.
点此阅读中文翻译 (Chinese Translation)
漢代皂石饕餮紋刀片
中國 ，西元前二世紀至西元二世紀。弧形刀片兩側刻有饕餮紋，其細節特徵鮮明，例如彎曲的眉毛下方有杏仁形的眼睛，中間有交叉菱形圖案，周圍有如意紋，圓環形嘴。刀片的一側是鋒利的，而鈍的一側則刺有兩個圓形孔，側面是整齊雕刻的扭繩紋。不透明的玉石呈斑駁的淺黃色，大面積鈣化，有黃褐色和白色內沁。表面光滑。
來源：巴黎Huet收藏；Hôtel des ventes Giroux，1952年2月22-23 日 (根據巴黎內閣波特爾在對整個de Strycker莊園進行評估期間檢查過的一份家庭老帳本； 該帳本仍由 de Strycker 家族所有，不得複製)。Robert與Isabelle de Strycker收藏，在同一家族保存至今。一面可見一個收藏標籤。Robert de Strycker (1903-1968) 是一位法國冶金工程師。他畢業於斯坦福大學，曾是魯汶大學教授，同時也是魯汶天主教大學冶金研究所所長，是應用科學學院最有影響力的成員之一。二戰後，他為法國的戰後復興做出了巨大貢獻。Robert與他的妻子Isabelle （1915-2010）於 上世紀三十年代在大英博物館首次接觸到中國藝術。因爲其風格和美感所吸引，他們決定研究和收藏中國藝術品。1938 年，他們開始建立自己的收藏，從比利時、巴黎和英國經銷商處購買。他們與英國著名收藏家Harry Garner爵士（1891-1977）和捷克著名收藏家兼專家Fritz Low-Beer (1906-1976）保持著密切聯繫。
品相：狀況良好，大面積磨損、風化和侵蝕，有結殼、刻痕、微小的似乎是填充物、具有天然內沁和裂縫的玉石，其中一些已發展成細小的裂縫。整體包漿自然，部分區域磨損並鈣化。
重量：355.4 克
尺寸：長 28.5 厘米
饕餮是古代中國神話傳說中的一種怪物，在西元前一千年，經常被作爲紋飾出現在很多器具上。《左傳·文公十八年》中曾記載：“舜臣堯，賓於四門，流四凶族，渾敦、窮奇、檮杌、饕餮，投諸四裔，以禦螭魅。是以堯崩而天下如一，同心戴舜，以為天子，以其舉十六相，去四凶也。”用饕餮來形容貪吃的人。
文獻比較:
比較兩件相近的漢代滑石獸面，1978年出土於湖南省漵浦縣馬田坪西漢墓出土，以及另一件出土於常德市郭家鋪，三件皆收藏於湖南博物館。比較一件相近的漢代翡翠定情信物裝飾品，描繪了一張同樣雕刻的怪異面孔，寬12.4 厘米，收藏於大都會藝術博物館，館藏編號18.43.14。比較一件相近的東漢玉獸首銜環壺，見香港蘇富比，2020年10月9日，lot 3。
China, 2nd century BC to 2nd century AD. The curved blade powerfully carved to both sides with a two-horned taotie mask with sharply detailed features such as almond-shaped eyes below elegantly curved brows centered by a cross-hatched lozenge design, framed by ruyi and scroll designs, all above a pierced round mouth. The blade is sharpened to one side, while the blunt side is pierced with two further circular apertures flanking a neatly incised rope-twist design. The opaque stone is of a mottled buff color with extensive calcification as well as russet and cloudy white inclusions. Nice polish, with an unctuous feel overall.
Provenance: Collection Huet, Paris. Hôtel des ventes Giroux, 22-23 February 1952 (according to an ancient family ledger inspected by Cabinet Portier, Paris, France, during their appraisal of the complete de Strycker estate; this ledger remains in the possession of the de Strycker family and may not be copied). Collection of Robert and Isabelle de Strycker, acquired from the above and thence by descent in the same family. One side with an old collection label. Robert de Strycker (1903-1968) was a French engineer who specialized in metallurgy. He was a Stanford graduate, a professor at the University of Leuven, a director of the Institute of Metallurgy at the Université Catholique de Louvain, and one of the most influential members of the faculty of applied sciences. After World War II, he made large contributions to France’s post-war recovery. Robert and his wife Isabelle (1915-2010) first encountered Chinese art at the British Museum during a stay in London in the 1930s. Enamored with the style and beauty, they both decided to study and collect Chinese works of art. In 1938 they eventually began to build their collection, buying from Belgian, Parisian, and English dealers. They kept close contact with the famous English collector Sir Harry Garner (1891-1977) and noted Czech collector and expert Fritz Low-Beer (1906-1976).
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive ancient wear from pre-burial worship, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations, nicks, possibly minuscule old fills, the stone with natural inclusions and fissures, some of which have developed into small hairline cracks. Naturally grown patina overall, with some areas of post-burial wear to calcification.
Weight: 355.4 g
Dimensions: Length 28.5 cm
Please click here to read the full description
The Taotie is an ancient Chinese mythological creature that was commonly emblazoned on a variety of materials during the 1st millennium BC. The first historically confirmed usage of Taotie is in the classic Zuo Zhuan, a narrative history of China written in 30 chapters between 722 and 468 BC, where it is used to refer to one of the Four Perils (Si Xiong), the four evil creatures of the world: a greedy and gluttonous son of the Jinyun clan, who lived during the time of the mythical Yellow Emperor. Within the Zuo Zhuan, taotie is used by the writer to identify a glutton.
Literature comparison:
Compare two related soapstone animal masks unearthed in 1978 from Western Han tombs in Maxiping, Xupu, and another unearthed from an Eastern Han tomb in Guojiapu, Changde, all three now in the Hunan Provincial Museum. Compare a related jade love token ornament, depicting a similarly carved grotesque face, 12.4 cm wide, also dated to the Han dynasty, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 18.43.14. Compare a related jade hu-form vessel with a similar taotie mask handle, dated to the Eastern Han dynasty, at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 9 October 2020, lot 3.
点此阅读中文翻译 (Chinese Translation)
漢代皂石饕餮紋刀片
中國 ，西元前二世紀至西元二世紀。弧形刀片兩側刻有饕餮紋，其細節特徵鮮明，例如彎曲的眉毛下方有杏仁形的眼睛，中間有交叉菱形圖案，周圍有如意紋，圓環形嘴。刀片的一側是鋒利的，而鈍的一側則刺有兩個圓形孔，側面是整齊雕刻的扭繩紋。不透明的玉石呈斑駁的淺黃色，大面積鈣化，有黃褐色和白色內沁。表面光滑。
來源：巴黎Huet收藏；Hôtel des ventes Giroux，1952年2月22-23 日 (根據巴黎內閣波特爾在對整個de Strycker莊園進行評估期間檢查過的一份家庭老帳本； 該帳本仍由 de Strycker 家族所有，不得複製)。Robert與Isabelle de Strycker收藏，在同一家族保存至今。一面可見一個收藏標籤。Robert de Strycker (1903-1968) 是一位法國冶金工程師。他畢業於斯坦福大學，曾是魯汶大學教授，同時也是魯汶天主教大學冶金研究所所長，是應用科學學院最有影響力的成員之一。二戰後，他為法國的戰後復興做出了巨大貢獻。Robert與他的妻子Isabelle （1915-2010）於 上世紀三十年代在大英博物館首次接觸到中國藝術。因爲其風格和美感所吸引，他們決定研究和收藏中國藝術品。1938 年，他們開始建立自己的收藏，從比利時、巴黎和英國經銷商處購買。他們與英國著名收藏家Harry Garner爵士（1891-1977）和捷克著名收藏家兼專家Fritz Low-Beer (1906-1976）保持著密切聯繫。
品相：狀況良好，大面積磨損、風化和侵蝕，有結殼、刻痕、微小的似乎是填充物、具有天然內沁和裂縫的玉石，其中一些已發展成細小的裂縫。整體包漿自然，部分區域磨損並鈣化。
重量：355.4 克
尺寸：長 28.5 厘米
饕餮是古代中國神話傳說中的一種怪物，在西元前一千年，經常被作爲紋飾出現在很多器具上。《左傳·文公十八年》中曾記載：“舜臣堯，賓於四門，流四凶族，渾敦、窮奇、檮杌、饕餮，投諸四裔，以禦螭魅。是以堯崩而天下如一，同心戴舜，以為天子，以其舉十六相，去四凶也。”用饕餮來形容貪吃的人。
文獻比較:
比較兩件相近的漢代滑石獸面，1978年出土於湖南省漵浦縣馬田坪西漢墓出土，以及另一件出土於常德市郭家鋪，三件皆收藏於湖南博物館。比較一件相近的漢代翡翠定情信物裝飾品，描繪了一張同樣雕刻的怪異面孔，寬12.4 厘米，收藏於大都會藝術博物館，館藏編號18.43.14。比較一件相近的東漢玉獸首銜環壺，見香港蘇富比，2020年10月9日，lot 3。
Zacke Live Online Bidding
Our online bidding platform makes it easier than ever to bid in our auctions! When you bid through our website, you can take advantage of our premium buyer's terms without incurring any additional online bidding surcharges.
To bid live online, you'll need to create an online account. Once your account is created and your identity is verified, you can register to bid in an auction up to 12 hours before the auction begins.
Intended Spend and Bid Limits
When you register to bid in an online auction, you will need to share your intended maximum spending budget for the auction. We will then review your intended spend and set a bid limit for you. Once you have pre-registered for a live online auction, you can see your intended spend and bid limit by going to 'Account Settings' and clicking on 'Live Bidding Registrations'.
Your bid limit will be the maximum amount you can bid during the auction. Your bid limit is for the hammer price and is not affected by the buyer’s premium and VAT. For example, if you have a bid limit of €1,000 and place two winning bids for €300 and €200, then you will only be able to bid €500 for the rest of the auction. If you try to place a bid that is higher than €500, you will not be able to do so.
Online Absentee and Telephone Bids
You can now leave absentee and telephone bids on our website!
Absentee Bidding
Once you've created an account and your identity is verified, you can leave your absentee bid directly on the lot page. We will contact you when your bids have been confirmed.
Telephone Bidding
Once you've created an account and your identity is verified, you can leave telephone bids online. We will contact you when your bids have been confirmed.
Classic Absentee and Telephone Bidding Form
You can still submit absentee and telephone bids by email or fax if you prefer. Simply fill out the Absentee Bidding/Telephone bidding form and return it to us by email at office@zacke.at or by fax at +43 (1) 532 04 52 20. You can download the PDF from our Upcoming Auctions page.
How-To Guides
How to Create Your Personal Zacke Account
How to Register to Bid on Zacke Live
How to Leave Absentee Bids Online
How to Leave Telephone Bids Online
中文版本的操作指南
创建新账号
注册Zacke Live在线直播竞拍（免平台费）
缺席投标和电话投标
Third-Party Bidding
We partner with best-in-class third-party partners to make it easy for you to bid online in the channel of your choice. Please note that if you bid with one of our third-party online partners, then there will be a live bidding surcharge on top of your final purchase price. You can find all of our fees here. Here's a full list of our third-party partners:
- 51 Bid Live
- EpaiLive
- ArtFoxLive
- Invaluable
- LiveAuctioneers
- the-saleroom
- lot-tissimo
- Drouot
Please note that we place different auctions on different platforms. For example, in general, we only place Chinese art auctions on 51 Bid Live.
Bidding in Person
You must register to bid in person and will be assigned a paddle at the auction. Please contact us at office@zacke.at or +43 (1) 532 04 52 for the latest local health and safety guidelines.
