A PARCEL-GILT-BRONZE 'MYTHICAL BEASTS' VASE, GU 17th centuryA PARCEL-GILT-BRONZE 'MYTHICAL BEASTS' VASE, GU17th centuryFinely cast with a globular body rising from a spreading foot to a tall flaring neck, decorated around the exterior in medium relief with a continuous scene of various mythical animals amidst crashing waves highlighted in gilt. 19cm (7 1/2in) high. 十七世紀 銅局部鎏金海瑞獸紋花觚The present lot is remarkable for the range and diversity of the mythical creatures depicted. The design harks back to earlier related depictions during the Ming dynasty: see for example a blue and white bowl, Xuande, with similar decoration of mythical creatures over waves, illustrated by Chen Ching-kuang, 'Sea Creatures on Ming Imperial Porcelain', The Porcelains of Jingdezhen, London, 1993, pl.1, where it is suggested that this motif may be related to the auspicious creatures described in the Shanhai jing (山海經), a mythical geography of China and the known world, dated to the Eastern Zhou/Han dynasty. It is possible that such designs were inspired by woodblock illustrations from this classic. Although bronze vases of this type are rare, similar decoration can be seen on blue and white porcelain; see for example a blue and white bowl, Wanli, with similar decoration of mythical beasts on water, in the Shanghai Museum and illustrated by Lu Minghua, Qingdai guanyao ciqi, Shanghai 2007, pl.1-83.Compare with a related parcel-gilt bronze vase, 16th/17th century, but decorated with various scholarly objects, illustrated by Sydney L.Moss Ltd., The Second Bronze Age: Later Chinese Metalwork, Hong Kong, 1991, no.92.public_sentiment_keywords: Mythical Creature ** bronze + Gu ** Bronze + Gu ** bronze ** Bronze + Jin ** Bronzeis_parse: 20230413image: yuzhan_bonhams_item/51930822.jpgsold_price_type: £