China, Sui dynasty or earlierL. 31 cmCast bronze... Lot 20

China, Sui dynasty or earlierL. 31 cmCast bronze with thin, relatively uniform gray-green patina, with gnome face, long horn at the back of the head, large pointed upturned ears, strongly curved long body, wings decorated with fine plumage and tail emerging from a mask, an opening in front, presumably for an ornament now lost.From the Zeileis Collection, collected in the 1980s and 1990sPublished in: Friedrich Georg Zeileis, 'Von Shang bis Qing, Dreieinhalb Jahrtausende Chinesische Bronze', Gallspach, 1999, No. 150, pp. 366-367 - Cf. an earthenware figure similar in physiognomy in the Sichuan Provincial Museum, Chengdu, publ. in Orientations, February 1998, p. 50 - Part. some rest.