A PAIR OF GILT-BRONZE TAOTIE MASK FITTINGS WITH LOOSE RING HANDLES, WARRING STATES PERIOD TO HAN DYNASTYChina, 5th century BC to 2nd century AD. Each well cast and finely detailed with bulging eyes below thick brows and curved horns, all above a pair of arms, suspending a loose ring from the down-turned nose, which continues into a rectangular tab on the back below another tab pierced for attachment. Fine, solid patina with malachite and cuprite encrustations.Provenance: A French private collection, acquired in Hong Kong during the 1980s. Galerie Archaia, Lyon, France, 2011. A French private collection built between ca. 1980 and 2012, acquired from the above, and thence by descent. A copy of the original invoice from Galerie Archaia, Lyon, dated 9 November 2011, describing the present lot as a pair of gilt bronze taotie from the Warring States period, apanies this lot.Condition: Very good condition,mensurate with age. Extensive wear, minor dents, small nicks, light scratches, losses, signs of weathering and erosion, casting flaws, and encrustations.Dimensions: Height 13.7 cm (each)Each with a modern acrylic glass stand. (6)Expert’s note: The inclusion of human-like arms in this design is very unusual, and related to a small number of bronze ring handles with human-form decoration, including one excavated in 1968 at Mancheng, Hebei Province, from the tomb of Liu Sheng (d.113 BC) in the Hebei Provincial Museum which was illustrated in the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition catalog Age of Empires: Chinese Art of the Qin and Han Dynasties (221 B.C.-A.D. 220), New York, 2017, pages 184-185, no. 103.Auction resultparison:Type: RelatedAuction: London, 17 May 2018, lot 41Price: GBP 8,750 or approx.EUR 11,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writingDescription: A rare pair of gilt-bronze ‘taotie and figure’ door handles, pushou, Warring States period/Han dynastyExpert remark:pare the related human-form decoration. Note the width of the handles (12.5 cm) and that the lot alsoprises a pair.Auction resultparison:Type: RelatedAuction: Christie’s New York, 16 March 2017, lot 861Price: USD 23,750 or approx.EUR 26,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writingDescription: A gilt-bronze taotie mask fitting with loose ring handle, Han dynastyExpert remark: Note the similar size (15.2 cm) and that the lot onlyprises a single taotie mask fitting.戰國至漢代一對銅鎏金獸面輔首啣環描述：中國，公元前五世紀至公元二世紀。鑄造精良，細節精緻，獸面濃密的眉毛，彎曲的角，大眼圓睜，嘴部有一雙手，鼻子下懸掛一個可以活動的環。細膩堅固的包漿，帶有紅綠色銅鏽結殼。