A BRONZE HEXAGONAL 'MYTHICAL BEASTS' ARROW VASE, TOUHU Ming DynastyA BRONZE HEXAGONAL 'MYTHICAL BEASTS' ARROW VASE, TOUHUMing DynastyThe compressed body rising to a tall cylindrical neck, with six protruding flanges alternating with mythical animals amidst rocky landscape, the spreading foot and the lower part of the neck decorated with archaistic cicadas, all below two chi-dragons writhing sinuously around the neck below a pair of hexagonal lug handles, the bronze patinated to a warm coppery-brown tone. 47.7cm (18 3/4in) high, 5.5kg.明 銅螭龍動物紋六方雙貫耳投壺Provenance:M. Eveleigh, London, 18 September 1986The Brian Harkins Collection來源：1986年9月18日購於倫敦古董商M. Eveleigh布萊恩·哈金斯珍藏The design of the pattern on this lot and the one seen on lot 38 are almost identical, except for the neck, where one is applied with two lions and the other with two chi-dragons. Compare with another closely related bronze 'animal' 'arrow' vase, Ming dynasty, in the Hunan Provincial Museum, illustrated in The Revival of Bronze Art: Exhibition of Late Bronzes from Hunan, Beijing, 2012, pp.210-211.The design of running and leaping animals is a common motif of Imperial porcelain in the 15th century. Compare two similarly decorated blue and white 'mythical animals' bowls made between the periods of Zhengtong and Jingtai, excavated in Jingdezhen, illustrated in Lustre Revealed: Jingdezhen Porcelain Wares in Mid Fifteenth Century China, Shanghai, 2019, nos.113 and 114.壺方口，六面，兩側鑄六方貫耳，貫耳飾菱花錦地，壺口沿下飾饕餮紋兩組，壺頸以弦紋兩匝分兩段，上段鑄兩螭龍，躬身成鋬，下層是蕉葉紋一周，肩部分六格，每個減地飾菱花錦地，腹部出扉棱，每面飾浮雕山巒獸紋，計有麒麟、天馬、天祿、玉兔、犀牛獅子，圈足束腰飾蕉葉紋一周，足圈兩層。此壺與本場拍品38設計頗似，皆為六面，除頸部一作雙獅一作雙螭不同之外，其餘紋飾設計如出一轍，可比較湖南省博物館藏明代動物紋投壺，見陳建明編，《復興的銅器藝術—湖南晚期銅器展》，北京，2013年，頁210-211。此類腹部裝飾奔跑動物形象之例又常見於十五世紀御窯廠瓷器，參見兩件景德鎮出土之明代正統至天順年間青花瑞獸紋碗，腹部裝飾動物紋樣與此件頗似，見《灼爍重現：15世紀中期景德鎮瓷器特輯》，上海，2019年，編號113、114。