LOT 1998

Chinese Gilt Copper Crouching Camel

SONG DYNASTY, 960-1279 A.D. OR EARLIER

2 1/8 in. (164 grams, 56 mm).

Modelled in the round with a double hump, neck gracefully resting against the back, and legs folded beneath the body.

Acquired in the 1960s.
From the collection of Mr Jay Gluck (1927-2000) & Mrs Sumi Hiramoto Gluck.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12063-214191.

For a similar shape see an earlier prototype of a 'camel' form on a bronze water dropper, Han Dynasty, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Small Refined Articles of the Study, Shanghai, 2009, p.192, no.178. See also Bao Wenqing, Qi Gong zayi, Beijing, 2011, p.76.

Camel-shaped water droppers would have been perfect not only for dispensing water onto the inkstone, but also because the humps could form as a brush rest too. The form of our artefact showcases the rapid cultural interaction and integration between China and Central Asia during the early dynasties of China. By the Tang Dynasty, China was one of the most cosmopolitan empires on earth with traders and missionaries from across Asia, Europe and Africa in the capital Chang'an. Depictions of two-humped Bactrian camels in pottery symbolised wealth, trade and international networks. The famous calligrapher and painter Qi Gong (1912-2005) owned a similar gilt-bronze camel paperweight, who according to his records purchased it in an antique shop in Japan. Qi Gong even renamed his studio 'The Little Bronze Camel Studio' (xiao tong luo guan’).