China, 4^th-3^rd century BC. Superbly inlaid in silver sheet and wire with two continuous scenes: The upper register with figures riding a caparisoned elephant surrounded by birds in flight, further with a large ferocious dragon and a striding bixie. The lower register with an archer on horseback, aiming at a leaping tiger, further with a lion, bear, owl, and a multitude of other animals.

Provenance: From a noted private collection in New York City, USA, and thence by descent within the same family.
Condition: Excellent and absolutely original condition, fully commensurate with age. Extensive wear, soiling, encrustations, few minuscule nicks and dents, minor losses to inlays. Naturally grown patina with malachite encrustations overall and some speckles of cuprite.

Weight: 1,385 g
Dimensions: Length 28.9 cm

The scenes are interspersed with scrolling leafy vines as well as circular and rhombic designs. The registers are framed by reverse-decorated borders, with two wave borders in the center and two diapered borders to the raised ribs at the upper and lower end.

The design on this fitting would have been cast as shallow indentations and then inlaid with silver, which was worked cold. It has been suggested by Professor Wu Hung in "A Sanpan Shan Chariot Ornament and Xiangrui Design in Western Han Art", Archives of Asian Art, volume XXXVII, 1984, page 38, that such tubular fittings would have been used to attach the support of the canopy to the chariot.

It is unlikely that fittings of this sort, with their exquisite design and workmanship, would have been used for war chariots. They would rather have been major status symbols for high-ranked dignitaries, used for leisure or burial.

Literature comparison: A related fitting is illustrated by J. Rawson and E. Bunker, Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, no. 94., where the authors note that the decoration resembles “some of the more elaborately embroidered textiles from Hubei Jiangling Mashan and from Mawangdui at Changsha in Hunan.” Another similar fitting is illustrated in Kaikodo Journal, Autumn 1997, no. 49. The design for a fitting of this type, one of the four found in the tomb of the second King of Nanyue (d. 122 BC), in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, is shown in line drawings in Xihan Nanyuewang Mu, vol. 1, Beijing, 1991, p. 97, fig. 65, while in vol. 2, p. 51, fig. 2, the fitting is illustrated along with remains of the wood pole it would have encased.

Compare a related but smaller silver-inlaid bronze cylindrical fitting, dated to the late Eastern Zhou, in the collection of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, object number B60B685. Compare also a gold and silver-inlaid champion’s vase, dated to the Western Han dynasty and mounted at a later date during the Song or Ming dynasty, in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, accession number M.730-1910.

Auction result comparison: Compare a pair of related silver-inlaid canopy pole fittings, dated to the Warring States period, of larger size (45 cm) but with significantly less elaborate decoration, at Sotheby’s New York, in Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art on 31 March to 1 April 2005, lot 153, sold for USD 84,000. Compare also a related silver-inlaid canopy pole fitting, dated to the Western Han period, of only slightly larger size (35 cm) and also with less significantly elaborate decoration, at Christie’s New York, in Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art on 15 September 2011, lot 1147, sold for USD 40,000.

戰國至西漢重要青銅錯銀車軸件
中國，公元前四至三世紀。精緻的青銅錯銀描繪了狩獵場景：騎著大象的獵手，四周飛鳥環繞，一條凶猛的巨龍和一隻辟邪；另外還有騎馬的弓箭手，正瞄準這跳躍中的老虎，遠處還有獅子、熊、貓頭鷹和許多其他動物。

來源：美國紐約知名私人收藏，保存在同一家族至今。
品相：卓越且絕對原始的狀況，與年齡完全一致。大面積磨損、污跡和結殼，極少的微小刻痕和凹痕，錯銀損失較小。自然生長的包漿，整體帶有孔雀石色外殼和一些赤銅礦斑點。

重量：1,385克
尺寸：長28.9 厘米

拍賣結果比較：一對戰國時期銅錯銀車軸 (45 厘米)，場景較少，見紐約蘇富比Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art 2005年3月31日至4月1日 lot 153, 售價USD 84,000；一件西漢銅錯銀車軸，尺寸稍大 (35 厘米) ，場景較少，見紐約佳士得 Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art 2011年9月15日 lot 1147, 售價USD 40,000。