A RARE BRONZE ARROW VASE, TOUHU Yuan/Ming DynastyA RARE BRONZE ARROW VASE, TOUHUYuan/Ming DynastyThe compressed globular body cast with four high-relief beast heads alternating with fin-shaped flanges, all reserved on a honeycomb diaper ground, rising from a splayed pedestal foot cast with a classic-scroll border and lingzhi sprays against leiwen ground, the tall neck divided into three sections with the middle decorated with taotie masks reserved on leiwen ground, between a classic-scroll border and a register with relief decoration of cast jewels and tassels reserved against a taotie mask and leiwen ground, all below the top flanked by a pair of handles decorated around the edges with bosses enclosing diaper ground. 30.1cm (11 7/8in) high, 3.1kg.元/明 銅龜背饕餮紋雙貫耳投壺Provenance:Phillips, London, 18 September 1986The Brian Harkins Collection來源：倫敦富藝斯，1986年9月18日布萊恩·哈金斯珍藏The hexagonal diaper on this vase was popular in Song and Yuan dynasties, and it was sharpened by carving after casting. Compare a bronze 'garlic head' vase with similar concentric hexagonal diaper, which was excavated in Haining, Zhejiang, illustrated by M.Wang, 'Song Yuan Fanggu Qingtongqi Shang De Wenyang', in Shoucangjia, October 2010, p.48, pl.11. The high-relief ornament on the neck are related to that on the beaded necklace of Buddhist figures during the Yuan to the early Ming dynasties. Compare a gilt-bronze figure of Vajrasattva, Yongle, with beaded necklaces, illustrated in Classics of the Forbidden City: Sculptures in the Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, 2012, pl.200. The leafy scroll on the present vase is in the style of the early Ming dynasty. Compare with a gilt-bronze figure of Sakyamuni similarly decorated on the stand with a leafy scroll in the British Museum, illustrated by C.Clunas and J.Harrison-Hall, Ming: 50 Years That Changed China, London, 2014, p.227, fig.195.壺口及貫耳上下口沿起鼓釘紋一周，主體鏨刻龜背紋，壺頸紋飾分兩段，鏨刻饕餮紋，上段再鑄浮雕瓔珞，頸鏨刻卷草紋一周，肩部分四格，每格內鏨刻龜背紋錦地，扁圓鼓腹，出四戟，每面正中鑄立體獸首，錦地分兩層，上層飾龜背紋，下層飾竊曲紋，束腰分四格，每格飾饕餮雲紋，圈足直壁，上飾卷草紋。此壺龜背紋承襲自宋元，可參考浙江海寧出土一件元代蒜頭瓶，其龜背紋一如此壺，為多層同心六格網狀分佈，見王牧撰，《宋元仿古青銅器上的紋樣》，載於《收藏家》，2010年10月，頁48，圖11。頸部瓔珞則常見於元代至明早期佛教造像，參考北京故宮藏一件明永樂銅鎏金金剛薩埵像胸前瓔珞，見《故宮雕塑圖典》，北京，2012年，圖版200。此壺所飾卷草紋亦有明代早期風格，可比較大英博物館藏一件明永樂銅鎏金釋迦牟尼像底座所飾卷草紋，見 Craig Clunas 及Jessica Harrison-Hall編， 《Ming: 50 Years that Changed China》，北京，2012年，頁227，圖195。