A COPPER AND SILVER-INLAID BRONZE ‘FLORAL’ VASE, ATTRIBUTED TO THE SHISOU WORKSHOP China, 17^th-18^th century. The very heavy, compressed globular body rising from a spreading foot to a waisted neck with a cup-shaped mouth and lipped rim, the body decorated with a network of flowerheads connected by straight or gently curved lines, below wire-inlaid bands of lappets and scroll to the mouth and oval designs to the foot. The base with a silver wire-inlaid two-character seal mark within a square.

Inscriptions: To base, ‘Rongtai’.

Provenance: UK trade.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and casting irregularities, few minor losses to inlays, small nicks, light scratches.

Weight: 3,421 g
Dimensions: Height 23 cm

Little is known about the historical figure Shisou. The earliest reference in the Zhongguo meishujia renming cidian ('Dictionary of Chinese Artists') comes from the Luochuang xiaodu and is presumably from the same source as published in Zhongguo yishujia zhenglue ('Brief Introduction of Chinese Artists’). Shisou is listed there only as a late Ming dynasty monk without any further biographical information. A number of vessels and sculptures from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century bear his name, sometimes in combination with a hall name, Jinyu tang (‘Hall of Prosperity’). Although the present piece does not bear his name, the high quality of the casting and fine silver-wire inlays make an attribution to Shisou or a related workshop reasonable.

石叟款銅錯銀花卉紋瓶
中國，十七至十八世紀。花瓶厚重，侈口，縮頸，削肩，鼓腹，圈足外撇。口沿下蕉葉紋，頸部與腹部錯銀網狀紋，交叉處花卉紋，圈足部位雙圈紋。底部四方錯銀“榮泰”款。

來源：英國古玩市場。
品相：狀況極好，有輕微磨損和鑄件不規則，鑲嵌物有輕微缺損，小刻痕，輕微劃痕。

重量：3,421 克
尺寸：高23 厘米