A bronze flower vase, Song - Ming dynasty

Acquired in London, circa 1968.

Ulrich Hausmann, ‘Anmerkungen zur Problematik des Archaismus der späteren chinesischen Bronzen’, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ostasiatische Kunst, no. 5, October 1993, p. 23, fig. 10.

Ulrich Hausmann, ‘Notes on the Topic of Archaism in Later Chinese Bronzes’, Orientations, April 2015, p. 76, fig. 10.

Of charming proportions and what Hausmann in his notes describes as “fine-handling patina - evidence of generations of affectionate appreciation,” the present vase was the first Chinese bronze to enter the Hausmann Collection, igniting his interest in the field. This is the vase referred to in the ‘Introduction to the Wei Liao Qing Yuan Collection’, Later Chinese Bronzes from the Collection of Ulrich Hausmann, Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8th October 2014, p. 16.

Inspired by archaic wine beakers known as zhi, the present vase represents a re-appropriation of the functional form as an object of supreme decorative value and was attributed by Hausmann to the Song dynasty in his 1993 article for the Gesellschaft für Ostasiatische Kunst, later translated into English for Orientations. Hausmann writes in his notes that “the vase has a distinctly ceramic feel to it, as if it were potted”. Compare a footed vase of related zhi form in differing proportions, dated to the 15th or 16th century, preserved in British Museum, London (accession no. 1991,1028.15), illustrated on the Museum's website.