Warring States period/Western Han dynasty|Each handle well-cast in the form of a taotie mask with rounded eyes, surmounted by a smiling humanoid figure with muscular arms and chest, the mask's elongated nostrils curled at the end forming a hollow ring, suspending a thick circular ring handle, stands. 7 1/4in (18.4cm) high, each|戰國/西漢 銅鎏金饕餮紋鋪首兩件ProvenanceMichael Goedhuis, LondonNew York Private CollectionThe inclusion of a human figure in this design is intriguing and very unusual. For a similar pair of handles, in this case without the human figure, see a set sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 24 November 2013, lot 521. A related large taotie handle from the Erwin Harris collection was sold at Christie's, New York, 16 March 2017, lot 861. Another unusual bronze ring handle with similar human-form decoration, excavated in 1968 at Mancheng, Hebei at the tomb of Liu Sheng (died 113 BC) and now held in the collection of the Hebei Provincial Museum, and included in the exhibition "Age of Empires: Chinese Art of the Qin & Han Dynasties (221 B.C.-A.D. 220)" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 3 April-16 July 2017.