A RARE BRONZE ARROW VASE, TOUHU Yuan DynastyA RARE BRONZE ARROW VASE, TOUHUYuan DynastyThe compressed globular body raised on a tiered foot supporting a tapered section cast with stylized phoenix on a leiwen ground, the same pattern repeated above the shoulder and on the two lug handles flanked on the top of the neck, the shoulders encircled by a band of quatrefoil above the main body section divided by four projecting flanges, the tall slender neck decorated with two applied writhing chi-dragons. 35.3cm (13 7/8in) high, 2.7kg.元 銅螭龍仿古鳳鳥紋雙貫耳投壺Provenance:Phillips, London, 9 May 1985The Brian Harkins Collection來源：倫敦富藝斯，1985年5月9日布萊恩·哈金斯珍藏This vase is in the same form as lot 23 in the present catalogue, with the shoulders engraved with diaper ground within a raised border in the shape of persimmon sepals. The lobed leaves between the lappets is close to that seen on leaves depicted on porcelain and cloisonné enamel of the Yuan dynasty.The archaistic phoenix motif on the present vase is rare on archaistic bronze vessels of the Song and Yuan dynasties of which the typical motif would be archaistic scrolls or taotie patterns. Compare a bronze vase, you, with an arched handle decorated with the similar archaistic phoenix motif, Southern Song dynasty, excavated in Huzhou, Zhejiang, illustrated in Dynastic Renaissance: Art and Culture of the Southern Song, Antiquities, Taipei, 2010, pp.68-69, no.I-15. See also a related phoenix motif on a bronze vase, Yuan, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, acc.no.:2014.449.壺口圓唇，兩側鑄貫耳，其上飾仿古鳳鳥紋，壺頸以兩道弦紋分為兩段，上段攀附一隻分尾螭龍，下段飾鳳鳥紋，肩部以寬平陽線勾勒柿蒂紋，每瓣向內鉤連成蓮葉，內地光素，鼓腹出四短棱，四面光素，束腰飾仿古紋，高圈足光素。此壺與本場拍品23屬同一形制，肩部起地成柿蒂狀，且葉瓣向內收成荷葉狀，荷葉又多呈寶塔形，元代及明初瓷器常見之。此壺所飾仿古鳳鳥紋於宋元仿古銅器中亦稱少見，常見多為仿古竊曲紋或饕餮紋。此類仿古鳳鳥紋可參考浙江湖州出土南宋銅仿古提梁卣所飾，見《文藝紹興：南宋藝術與文化·器物卷》，台北，2010年，頁68-69，編號I-15。亦可參考紐約大都會博物館藏一件元代貫耳壺頸部所飾鳳鳥紋，館藏編號2014.449。