A tall bronze ring-handled vase

元至明早期    銅獸耳活環瓶

The vase is of tall slightly flattened pear shape, with a waisted neck rising to a flared mouth with stepped rim, supported on a splayed foot with integral stepped base. The neck is flanked by a pair of loop handles springing from the mouths of mythical lion-like creatures with bulging features, protruding teeth and upswept mane. Each handle suspends a large freely-moving ring of diamond cross-section. Two fillets encircle the neck at the narrowest part, between which is cast an area of overlapping scale decoration, repeated around the foot. The metal has a rich dark brown patina, with some traces of gilt-lacquer.

Provenance:
A private French collection
Sotheby’s Paris, 12^th December 2017, lot 113

Dimensions: Height: 52.3 cm, 20 ⅝ inches

Date: Yuan dynasty or early Ming dynasty, 14th century

Stock No. 2230

Price: On Request