A BRONZE 'BAGUA' ARROW VASE, TOUHU Yuan/Ming DynastyA BRONZE 'BAGUA' ARROW VASE, TOUHUYuan/Ming DynastyThe compressed globular body raised on a tiered spreading foot cast with a broad diamond-pattern band, the tall slender neck flanked with two lug handles and all decorated with diamond-pattern bands, the neck adorned on both sides with a pair of playful chilong, the shoulder cast with trigram motifs in relief. 48.7cm (19 1/8in) high, 5kg.元/明 銅螭龍八卦紋雙貫耳投壺Provenance:The Brian Harkins Collection來源：布萊恩·哈金斯珍藏Compare with a related bronze 'bagua' arrow vase, 15th century, in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, illustrated by D.Failla, Food for the Ancestors Flowers for the Gods, Genova, 2017, p.225, fig.18.This solid vase is heavily cast with simple, yet elegant motifs. The neck of other typical vases is usually applied only with a pair of slender, long chilong with their tail forked into two or four rolling scrolls; the present vase, however, is unconventionally decorated with four stocky chilong, each with a single tail.壺圓唇，兩側鑄貫耳，貫耳及壺口飾菱花錦地，壺頸前後鑄立體螭龍上下相戲各一對，頸部末端起圓棱一周，肩部飾陽文八卦一圈，腹部光素圓鼓，圈足修束，上飾菱花錦地，足圈高低兩層。此壺體量圓實敦厚，紋飾線條簡潔細膩。一般頸部螭龍多前後一尾，而此處四尾，且尾部並不分叉，頗為少見。其八卦紋飾可參考意大利熱那亞國立愛德華多·基歐索尼東方藝術博物館所藏一件明代早期八卦紋銅壺，見D.Failla，《Food for the Ancestors Flowers for the Gods》，熱那亞，2017年，頁225，圖18。