A COPPER INLAID BRONZE RITUAL WINE VESSEL, HU, WESTERN HAN DYNASTY China, 206 BC to 8 AD. Heavily cast, the globular body supported on a spreading foot and rising to a flared galleried mouth, encircled by three raised bands below a copper-inlaid sawtooth band on the waisted neck. The shoulder is flanked by a pair of crisply cast and finely incised taotie masks suspending loose rings.

Provenance: From a noted private estate in Paris, France.
Condition: Excellent and absolutely original condition, fully commensurate with age and significantly better than normally expected from a Han dynasty bronze. Minor old wear, few small nicks, dents and losses, some encrustations as well as signs of weathering and corrosion, light scratches. The bronze with a sublime, naturally grown patina overall, showing vivid patches of malachite and cuprite.

Weight: 3,936 g
Dimensions: Height 31.2 cm

Expert's note: The remarkably well detailed and finely incised mask handles to each side are exceedingly rare to find on this type of bronze, as is the copper-inlaid sawtooth band on the waisted neck.

Literature comparison:
A similar copper-inlaid bronze hu in the Sen'oku Hakkokan, dated to the 4th century BC, is illustrated by J. So in Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, 1995, p. 281, fig. 50.1, where the author notes that the copper inlay was applied to the clay molds before the bronze was poured. Compare a related hu, excavated in 1968 from the tomb of Prince Liu Sheng who was the king of Zhongshan from 154 BC and died in 113 BC in Mancheng, Hebei province, illustrated in Zhongguo Wenwu Jinghua Daguan, Qingtongjuan, Hong Kong, 1994, no. 1100, p. 306.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie's New York, 19 September 2013, lot 1115
Price: USD 15,000 or approx. EUR 19,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A copper-inlaid bronze ritual wine vessel, hu, Western Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 8)
Expert remark: Compare the similar form and decorations, as well as the near-identical size (30.5 cm) and the copper-inlaid sawtooth band on the waisted neck.


西漢蕉葉弦紋壺
中國，公元前206年至公元 8年。壺口外撇，頸微束，下方鏨刻變體蕉葉紋，溜肩，肩部兩側分鑄一對獸面紋銜環舖首，腹部下收，肩腹飾三匝凹弦紋，圈足高企而外撇，嵌紅銅，皮色暗沉古穆。

來源：法國巴黎私人收藏。
品相：完美且絕對原始的狀態，與年齡完全相稱。輕微的磨損，少量小刻痕、凹痕和缺損，一些結殼以及風化和腐蝕的跡象，輕微的劃痕。青銅整體古銅色包漿，綠色和紅銅色斑塊。

重量：3,936 克
尺寸：高31.2 厘米

專家注釋：青銅壺上，每一側都有非常細緻的獸面紋銜環極為罕見，束頸上的銅鑲弦紋也是如此。

文獻比較：
一件相似的公元前四世紀的鑲嵌銅青銅壺，收藏於泉屋博古館，見J. So，《Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collection》，Arthur M. Sackler基金會，1995年，頁281，圖50.1。書中指出，銅的鑲嵌是在澆築青銅器之前塗在黏土模具上。比較一件於 1968年在河北滿城縣中山王劉勝墓中出土的壺，見《中國文物精華大全—青銅器卷》，香港，1994年，編號1100，頁306。

拍賣結果比較：
形制：非常相近
拍賣：紐約佳士得，2013年9月19日，lot 1115
價格：USD 15,000（相當於今日EUR 18,000）
描述：西漢蕉葉弦紋壺
專家評論：比較一下相似的形式和裝飾，以及近乎相同的尺寸（30.5厘米）和腰頸上的銅嵌變體蕉葉紋。