A RARE BRONZE FIGURE OF A RAT, DONG SON CULTUREVietnam, 500 BC to 300 AD. Well cast standing foursquare with the head slightly raised and ears pricked, the tail pointing upwards, the face with bulging eyes and open mouth.Provenance: From the collection of Paolo Bertuzzi. Paolo Bertuzzi (1943-2022) was a fashion stylist from Bologna, Italy. He was the son of Enrichetta Bertuzzi, founder of Hettabretz, a noted Italian fashionpany with customers such as the Rothschild family, Audrey Hepburn, and Elizabeth Taylor. Paolo Bertuzzi later took over his mother’s business and designed exclusive pieces, some of which were exhibited in the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum in New York, USA. He was also an avid collector of antiques for more than 60 years. His collection includes both archaic and contemporary art, and he edited two important books about Asian art, Goa Made - An Archaeological Discovery, about a large-scale archaeological project carried out with the Italian and Indonesian governments, and Majapahit, Masterpieces from a Forgotten Kingdom.Condition: Some repair and touch as generally expected from ancient Dong Son excavations. Losses, fissures, erosion, and corrosion. Minor casting flaws. Overall, still good condition, especially for such a rare piece. Fine malachite-green patina with brown encrustations overall.Weight: 164.8 gDimensions: Length 12 cmDong Son (named for Dong Son, a village in Thanh Hoa) was a Bronze Age culture centered at the Red River Valley of northern Vietnam from 1000 BC until the first century AD. Vietnamese historians attribute it to the states of Van Lang and Au Lạc. Its influence spread to other parts of Southeast Asia, including Maritime Southeast Asia, throughout the first millennium BC. The culture long remained a mystery to western archaeologists, and it was known only through its bronze objects, many of which were taken from burial sites. Dong Son bronze objects were exhibited in Europe for a century before their original location was even determined, and several theories and speculations over the dating methodologies of the culture continue to this day.Auction resultparison:Type: RelatedAuction: Galerie Zacke, Vienna, 10 March 2022, lot 285Price:EUR3,539Description: A rare bronze fish and mythical beast, Dong Son culture東山文化罕見銅鼠擺件越南，公元前500 至公元300 年。銅鼠呈站姿，四足着地，頭略微抬起，耳朵豎起，尾巴朝上，眼睛張開。