11th Apr, 2024 11:00
TWO-DAY AUCTION: Fine Asian Art, Buddhism and Hinduism
74
A RARE BRONZE ‘IMMORTALS’ ARROW VASE, TOUHU, YUAN TO EARLY MING DYNASTY
Sold for €7,800
including Buyer's Premium
China, 14th-15th century. Finely cast, the compressed globular body rising from a splayed and tiered foot and surmounted by a tall cylindrical neck set with two tubular ‘target’ lugs. The body decorated in relief with luduan masks divided by flanges below chilong dragons striding across a diaper-patterned ground, the neck with two immortals, Li Tieguai holding aloft his double gourd while supporting himself on his iron crutch and Lu Dongbin carrying his sword on his back, standing over crashing waves, framed by bands of keyfret to the neck and the lugs further with bands of hexagonal diaper.
Provenance: From a private collection in Vienna, Austria.
Condition: Some wear, small nicks, light scratches, losses, old repairs, touchups, casting flaws. The base with a drilled aperture and the foot ring further drilled with an aperture to mount as a lamp.
Weight: 2.9 kg
Dimensions: Height 34.1 cm
Vases of this type are associated with an ancient Chinese game called touhu (lit. ‘pitch-pot’), a traditional East Asian game that requires players to throw arrows or sticks from a set distance into a large, sometimes ornate vessel. The game had originated by the Warring States period, probably invented by archers or soldiers as a pastime during idle periods. It began as a game of skill or a drinking game at parties, but by the time it was described in a chapter of the Chinese Classic Book of Rites, it had acquired Confucian moral overtones. Initially popular among elites, it spread to other classes and remained popular in China until the end of the Qing Dynasty. Touhu was usually a contest between players, who had to throw arrows into the mouth or tubular lugs located at the top of the vase, which was placed at an equal distance between two mats on which the players knelt. Touhu vases continued to be produced in the Song dynasty and later, made in various materials including bronze, cloisonné, and ceramic.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s London, 11 November 2011, lot 1411
Price: GBP 11,250 or approx. EUR 21,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large bronze ‘Eight Immortals’ arrow vase, Ming dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the related form, also with two lugs, as well as the subject and modeling with similar figures of immortals. Note the larger size (57 cm).
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 29 May 2022, lot 24
Price: HKD 121,125 or approx. EUR 14,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare bronze arrow vase, touhu, Yuan dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the related touhu form with two target lugs, relief decoration, and size (35.3 cm).
China, 14th-15th century. Finely cast, the compressed globular body rising from a splayed and tiered foot and surmounted by a tall cylindrical neck set with two tubular ‘target’ lugs. The body decorated in relief with luduan masks divided by flanges below chilong dragons striding across a diaper-patterned ground, the neck with two immortals, Li Tieguai holding aloft his double gourd while supporting himself on his iron crutch and Lu Dongbin carrying his sword on his back, standing over crashing waves, framed by bands of keyfret to the neck and the lugs further with bands of hexagonal diaper.
Provenance: From a private collection in Vienna, Austria.
Condition: Some wear, small nicks, light scratches, losses, old repairs, touchups, casting flaws. The base with a drilled aperture and the foot ring further drilled with an aperture to mount as a lamp.
Weight: 2.9 kg
Dimensions: Height 34.1 cm
Vases of this type are associated with an ancient Chinese game called touhu (lit. ‘pitch-pot’), a traditional East Asian game that requires players to throw arrows or sticks from a set distance into a large, sometimes ornate vessel. The game had originated by the Warring States period, probably invented by archers or soldiers as a pastime during idle periods. It began as a game of skill or a drinking game at parties, but by the time it was described in a chapter of the Chinese Classic Book of Rites, it had acquired Confucian moral overtones. Initially popular among elites, it spread to other classes and remained popular in China until the end of the Qing Dynasty. Touhu was usually a contest between players, who had to throw arrows into the mouth or tubular lugs located at the top of the vase, which was placed at an equal distance between two mats on which the players knelt. Touhu vases continued to be produced in the Song dynasty and later, made in various materials including bronze, cloisonné, and ceramic.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s London, 11 November 2011, lot 1411
Price: GBP 11,250 or approx. EUR 21,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large bronze ‘Eight Immortals’ arrow vase, Ming dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the related form, also with two lugs, as well as the subject and modeling with similar figures of immortals. Note the larger size (57 cm).
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 29 May 2022, lot 24
Price: HKD 121,125 or approx. EUR 14,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare bronze arrow vase, touhu, Yuan dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the related touhu form with two target lugs, relief decoration, and size (35.3 cm).
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