China, 475-221 BC. Finely modeled in the form of a two-horned beast head with neatly incised features which are stylized with scroll and triangular designs, extending from a six-sided shaft decorated with further scroll patterns within rectangular reserves, encircled by a rope-twist band around the rim.

Provenance: From the private collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, New York. Alan Hartman (1930-2023) was an influential American art dealer, who took over his parents’ antique business in Manhattan and established the legendary Rare Art Gallery on Madison Avenue, with further locations in Dallas and Palm Beach. His wife Simone (née Horowitz) already served as assistant manager of the New York gallery before the couple married in 1975, and together they built a renowned collection for over half a century and became noted art patrons, enriching the collections of important museums including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (which opened the Alan and Simone Hartman Galleries in 2013) as well as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Brooklyn Museum in New York. Alan Hartman has been described as the greatest antiques dealer of our generation, and was widely recognized as a world authority in Chinese jade, bronzes, and Asian works of art.
Condition: Very good condition with ancient wear, dents, scratches, nicks, minuscule losses, sings of weathering and erosion, encrustations, and casting flaws. The bronze with a fine, naturally grown, dark patina.

Weight: 157.5 g
Dimensions: Length 8.5 cm

Though Chinese tradition asserts that the chariot was invented during the Xia dynasty (possibly 2070 BC–possibly 1600 BC), the horse-drawn chariot is believed to have been introduced in China in the thirteenth century BC, during the Shang dynasty (c. 1600 BC–c. 1046 BC). From the Shang through the Warring States periods, chariots were typically two-wheeled vehicles drawn by two or four horses harnessed to a single draught pole. The chariot initially was a vehicle for hunting and for projecting status, its military role apparently limited to serving as an elevated, mobile command platform, with no evidence that it was used in battle in significant numbers. After the Zhou conquest of the Shang in c. 1046 BC, however, use of the chariot in warfare became much more widespread; in fact, use of war chariots may have played a decisive role in the Zhou overthrow of the Shang.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related bronze chariot fitting with similar decoration, dated to the Warring states period, 9.2 cm long, in the Smithsonian Institute, National Museum of Asian Art, accession number S2012.9.2414. Compare a related bronze chariot fitting, dated circa 5^th-4^th century BC, 12 cm long, in the British Museum, registration number 1932,1215.43. Compare a related bronze axle end and pin, dated 5^th-3^rd century BC, 10.7 cm long, in the Nara National Museum, accession number 1317-337.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 17 April 2024, lot 1034
Price: HKD 114,300 or approx. EUR 13,500 converted at the time of writing
Description: A bronze 'tiger's head' chariot fitting, Eastern Zhou dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the related form with animal head and open shaft. Note the larger size (19.3 cm)