A BRONZE ARROW VASE, TOUHU, XUANDE MARK AND PROBABLY OF THE PERIOD China, 15^th-17^th century. Heavily cast, the compressed globular body supported on a waisted foot with a stepped and galleried foot rim and rising to a tall cylindrical neck, flanked by lug handles with galleried rims repeated on the neck. Finely decorated with archaistic taotie to the body, divided by curved flanges and enclosed by leiwen bands, and to the upper neck, as well as a band of ruyi-heads to the shoulder, a neatly incised wood grain design to the lower neck and pendent palm blades with leiwen to the central neck.

Provenance: Collection particulière française.
Condition: Very good condition with old wear and some casting irregularities, minuscule nicks, occasional light scratches, minor dents. Fine, naturally grown, dark patina.

Weight: 3,753 g
Dimensions: Height 29.2 cm

The recessed base incised with a four-character mark Xuande nianzhi within a square and probably of the period.

The form of this vase is inspired by archaic bronze vessels used for touhu (lit. ‘pitch-pot’), a traditional East Asian game that requires players to throw arrows or sticks from a set distance into a large, sometimes ornate, vessel. The game had originated by the Warring States period, probably invented by archers or soldiers as a pastime during idle periods. It began as a game of skill or a drinking game at parties, but by the time it was described in a chapter of the Chinese Classic Book of Rites, it had acquired Confucian moral overtones. Initially popular among elites, it spread to other classes and remained popular in China until the end of the Qing Dynasty. Touhu was usually a contest between players, who had to throw arrows into the mouth or tubular handles of the vase, which was placed at an equal distance between two mats on which the players knelt. Touhu vases continued to be produced in the Song dynasty and later, made in various materials including bronze, cloisonné, and ceramic.

Expert’s note: The present touhu vase differs from other examples, commonly dated to the 16^th and later centuries, in its elaborate incision work and distinctive mask decoration. Furthermore, the Xuande Emperor was known to be quite fond of the game, as evidenced by a painting of him playing touhu by Shan Xi (in the Palace Museum, Beijing). All this clearly suggests that the present vase may indeed date from the Xuande period.

Literature comparison: Compare a related bronze arrow vase, also incised with a four-character Xuande mark, at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, in Later Chinese Bronzes From The Collection of Gerard Hawthorn, on 2 December 2015, lot 34, where it is noted that “In Hawthorn's opinion, the quality of the casting, combined with the delicately incised mark, point to this vase being one of the rare Xuande reign-marked bronze vases which are indeed of the period”.

宣德款銅獸面紋投壺
中國，十五至十七世紀。長直頸、兩側貫耳，圓鼓腹、高圈足，飾饕餮紋、蕉葉紋、雷紋與如意紋。此件貫耳投壺器形高大，皮色深栗，紋飾精美。

來源：法國收藏。
品相：狀況極好，有舊磨損和鑄造瑕疵、微小的刻痕、局部輕微劃痕和凹痕。包漿自然細膩。

重量：3,753 克
尺寸：高29.2 厘米

圈足内“宣德年造”，或爲此時期。