A RARE AND IMPORTANT BRONZE FIGURE OF A BIXIE, HAN DYNASTY
This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve

Published: Jean-Paul Desroches (ed.) et al, The Beginning of the World. Dragons, Phoenix and Other Chimera, Fondation Baur, Geneva, 2020, p. 166, no. 95.

Exhibited:
1. Fondation Baur, The Beginning of the World – According to the Chinese. Dragons, Phoenix and Other Chimera, Geneva, 11 November 2020-23 May 2021.
2. Musée Départemental des Arts Asiatiques, The Beginning of the World – According to the Chinese. Dragons, Phoenix and Other Chimera, Nice, Summer 2021.

China, 206 BC-220 AD. Cast as a powerful winged beast in a striding stance, the right front leg stretched forward and the left hind leg extended, the thick paws slightly lifted off the ground exposing sharp claws, the head with two horns and raised alertly in a wild expression with large bulging eyes, a broad nose, and the mouth wide open in a roar revealing sharp fangs. The body detailed with tufts of fur and wing feathers with scrolling tips and a long tail.

Provenance: The Collection of Sam and Myrna Myers, Paris, France. Acquired between circa 1965-2012.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear, signs of prolonged burial, encrustations, areas of corrosion, a nick to the underside, few small losses. The bronze with a rich, naturally grown, mottled patina with extensive malachite and cuprite encrustation. The corrosion layers consist primarily of copper salts (oxides and chlorides) with tin-enriched areas, along with copper sulphide inclusions containing iron, which are consistent with authentic ancient patination processes.
Alloy Composition: The composition (85.4% copper, 10.1% tin, 4.5% lead) is characteristic of Chinese Han dynasty bronzes. The lead addition improved casting fluidity and reduced costs, while the ~10% tin content provides optimal mechanical properties for this period's bronze technology.

Weight: 2,117 g
Dimensions: Length 25 cm

This bronze animal, although not monumental in size, has a universal sculptural quality that carries it well beyond the confines of Chinese art. With its imaginative, fanciful physique and dynamic quasi-naturalistic bearing, it can hold a place in any history of world art. The basic image of a mighty but not ferocious animal, depicted in a state of utmost alertness that makes one expect an immediate jump or other rapid movement, expresses qualities valued in any animal sculpture and achieved rarely as strikingly as in this figure.

The Han dynasty is the last period that can still be considered a part of the Bronze Age, but as bronze was no longer the one material vital for daily life and for ritual, it was increasingly explored also as an artistic medium. When looking at this dramatic sculpture, there can be no doubt that bronze casting had come a long way since its beginnings in the Shang dynasty, when animals tended to be shown in a distant, awe-inspiring mode. In the late Warring States period there began an interest in animal sculptures rendered in naturalistic poses and movements. This perceived naturalism made mythical creatures, cherished as guardians and benevolent supporters of men, seemingly more approachable.

Fabulous animals were frequently depicted in two-dimensional form, but sculptures worked in the round like the present lot are rare in the Han dynasty. Bronze animals that exist from this time mostly had a practical purpose, being cast as fittings, weights, tallies, belt hooks or supports carrying lamps, incense burners, frames for musical instruments and other items of perishable material which have not survived. Such bronzes were most probably used in daily life, even if some were eventually buried with important personalities.

Pixiu are mythical hybrid creatures, considered powerful protectors, resembling strong, winged tigers or lions, auspicious for wealth, and said to have a voracious appetite exclusively for gold, silver, and jewels. Therefore, Pixiu have always been regarded as being capable of drawing cai qi (wealth) from all directions, and according to the Chinese zodiac, they are especially helpful for those who are going through a bad year. There are two types of Pixiu: The one with two horns is the female, called Bixie. The one with only one antler is the male, called Tianlu.

Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty declared that the pixiu would be forever known as the ‘Treasure of the Emperor’, that only royal personage could possess a pixiu, and that it was strictly forbidden for all others to own one, including officials. This law was kept through to the very end of the Qing dynasty. Lifelike sculptures of these mythical beings made from durable materials, such as bronze and jade, were made to embody and pacify the elemental and supernatural forces of the living world.

Winged beasts in general (lion, tiger, deer, ram, eagle… etc.) are a popular and enduring subject in ancient Chinese works of art, and exist in many different forms (as a decorative pattern, flat carving or carving in the round). The term bixie first appeared in Jijiupian by Shi You in the Western Han period: ‘Sheji, bixie are both names of mythical beasts… bixie means ‘warding off the wicked’. It is said that jade pendants in the form of these two beasts can help prevent adversity and provide protection.’

The iconography of the bixie is closely associated with that of the griffin, popular in the Western Asia and Eurasia steppes, and originated in Mesopotamia in 3000 B.C. Bixie occupies a curious position in Chinese art. It is based on the imagery of a lion, a foreign animal, but has the spirit of a fierce tiger. It is often depicted alongside other exotic animals as artistic backdrops for monumental architectures, especially in the Han dynasty where palaces, temples, shrines and tombs were often decorated with large scale bronze or stone sculptures of Weng Zhong, qilin, tianlu, elephants, camels or horses. Bixie is an important component amongst the array that makes up this subject matter.

Although bixie have heads like a lion or a tiger, it is the tiger that most embodies its essence. In the Three Kingdoms period, Zhuge Liang in his military strategy coined the now well-known term ‘like a tiger added with wings’ to describe a general that excels at deploying his troops. The origin of this phrase can be found in his anthology Zhuge Zhongwuhou wenji, juan 4, edited by Zhang Shu (1781-1847): “Military command is the mandate to lead the three armies, and the authority of the chief commander. A general who has the command of the army and knows the essence of troop deployment to gain the upper hand, is like a fierce tiger that has been given wings and able to travel the four seas, to apply force when he sees fit.”

Zhuge Liang’s description of an able general as ‘a tiger added with wings’ is the Han dynasty bixie personified.

Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related bronze fitting in the form of a supernatural animal, dated to the Han dynasty, ca. 1^st-2^nd century AD, 36.6 cm long, in the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, accession number F1961.3. Compare a related larger stone winged chimera, dated to the Eastern Han dynasty, found in 1992 in Mengjin, Henan, and presently in the Luoyang Museum, Henan.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 October 2022, lot 1
Price: HKD 35,465,000 or approx. EUR 4,052,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An important and outstanding bronze male chimera, bixie, Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of casting with similar expression, stance, wings, and size (27 cm). Note the socket on the beast’s back.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 24 November 2013, lot 529
Price: HKD 937,500 or approx. EUR 134,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An archaic bronze ‘mythical beast’ paperweight, Eastern Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the related relief modeling, manner of casting, and subject. Note the smaller size (6.2 cm).