Edward Luper
Specialist, Chinese Works of Art
Lot 4*
A bronze bird-shaped oil lamp holder Han Dynasty
12 May 2016, 10:30 BST
London, New Bond Street£30,000 - £50,000
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A bronze bird-shaped oil lamp holder
Han Dynasty
Finely cast as a standing phoenix with the wings upswept on either side to flank the slender body, with a sinuous, elongated neck, a curling cranial plume and bulging eyes before the long, curving beak grasping the circular lamp tray, its long legs terminating in pronounced talons gripping a ruyi stand, wood box. 56.5cm (22 2/8in) high (2).
Finely cast as a standing phoenix with the wings upswept on either side to flank the slender body, with a sinuous, elongated neck, a curling cranial plume and bulging eyes before the long, curving beak grasping the circular lamp tray, its long legs terminating in pronounced talons gripping a ruyi stand, wood box. 56.5cm (22 2/8in) high (2).
Footnotes
漢 青銅瑞鳥式燈架
Provenance: Julius Eberhardt
Published: R.Krahl, Collection Julius Eberhardt: Early Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 1999, 2004, pp.118-119, no.52
來源： Julius Eberhardt先生舊藏
出版： R.Krahl著，《Collection Julius Eberhardt: Early Chinese Art(Julius Eberhardt藏中國早期藝術)》，香港，1999及2004年，頁188-199，編號52
During the Han dynasty, lamps replaced candles as the main sources of light, becoming important household items. Extravagant models were made for high-ranking members of society. In Han burials, lamps provided light for the soul's path to the afterlife, functioning as apotropaic devices that facilitated the deceased's journey to the increasingly alienated, gloomy, and dangerous underworld.
The function of lamps may in fact be examined in connection with the occurrence of documents, such as land deeds, diquan (地契) and the 'Celestial Ordinances', Zhenmuwen (鎮墓文) which detailed the deceased's possessions and acted as amulets to ward off the harmful spirits of the Netherworld. According to the 'Classic of Mountains and Seas', Shanhai jing (山海經), compiled during the Han dynasty, the mythical bird was one of the fantastic creatures inhabiting the immortal lands of the Queen Mother of the West. The phoenix was also one of the four mythical creatures originating from Daoist philosophy of the Warring States period. Indicating South, and thus the sun, warmth and harvest, the phoenix frequently occurred in conjunction with the Turtle, or Black Warrior of the North, as well as the White Tiger of West and the Azure Dragon of the East, positioning the burial within the spatial-temporal features of the universe. For references, see J.Rawson, The Eternal Palaces of the Western Han: A New View of the Universe, in 'Bulletin of Far Eastern Antiquities', vol.72, pp.133-189.
Bronze lamps supported by standing birds are rare. A lamp supported by a peacock, however, is illustrated by C.Deydier, Rituels pour l'eternite, Paris, 2001, no.17. Another, supported by a mythical bird, was sold at Sotheby's New York, 19 March 2007, lot 516.
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