A bronze figure of a qilin, Ming dynasty

Qilin: Grays Mews, London, circa 1985.

Buffalo groups: Phillips London, circa 1980.

Scenes of boys playing the flute atop water-buffalo and mythical horned qilin are among the most ubiquitous designs of bronze scholars objects and were reinterpreted over the centuries in the form of water droppers, brush rests and paperweights. Hausmann attributes the larger of the buffalos to the Song or Yuan dynasty and notes its fine casting in the lost wax process, and the qilin figure to the early Ming period, commenting on its very fine old handling patina.