A rare pair of small gilt-bronze tiger-head terminals


Qin DynastyEach tiger head issuing from an L-shaped bar, with pointed ears and bulging almond eyes flanking flaring snouts, their mouths slightly agape revealing the tongues, stand, 4.6cm (1 3/4in) and 5cm (2in) wide. (2).
|The Property of a Gentleman 紳士藏品秦 銅鎏金虎首飾件一對Provenance: J.J. Lally & Co. Oriental Art, New York, 1994Jean-Yves Ollivier Collection來源：紐約古董商藍捷理藝廊，1994年歐宗易先生珍藏Gilt-bronze models of animals were increasingly popular from the Warring States period onward and usually made to decorate chariot poles or the legs of tables and other pieces of furniture. Compare with the head of a bronze tiger, Warring States period, illustrated by W.Watson, Ancient Chinese Bronzes, London, 1977, pl.89a.虎首鎏金，尖耳豎立，黑色雙目圓睜，鼻樑三節，口微張露舌，栩栩如生。頭後鑄L形金屬構件。戰國以來，鎏金獸形構件漸趨流行，多見於車馬、桌案及其他家具。參考斯德哥爾摩遠東博物館所藏一件銅虎席鎮之頭部，和此對虎頭頗似，見W.Watson著，《 Ancient Chinese Bronzes （中國古代青銅器）》，倫敦，1977年，圖版89a。