A RARE BRONZE ARROW VASE, TOUHU Song/Yuan DynastyA RARE BRONZE ARROW VASE, TOUHUSong/Yuan DynastyCrisply cast with a compressed hexagonal body with matching hollow tube handles at the neck further supporting two chilong, the faceted walls of the body decorated with cross-hatched floral diaper-pattern separated by vertical flanges on each corner, the base with a spreading foot cast with stylised pendent lappets, the patina of dark brown hue. 45.3cm (17 7/8in) high, 5.9kg.宋/元 銅螭龍錦地六方出戟雙貫耳投壺Provenance:The Brian Harkins Collection來源：布萊恩·哈金斯珍藏The motif of this tall slender vase of balanced proportions is cast on the body which is richly decorated with a dense and neat diaper-pattern ground. The diaper-pattern grounds were popular during the Song and Yuan dynasties, which can be seen on Li Jie's (李誡; 1065–1110) Yingzao Fashi (State Building Standards), republished in Siku quanshu, 1773, vol.33.See a bronze vase, Yuan dynasty, of square section decorated with the same diaper-pattern in the Edoardo Chiossone Museum of Oriental Art in Genoa, Italy, illustrated by D.Failla, Food for the Ancestors, Flowers for the Gods, 2017, p.134, pl.7.7. Compare also with a bronze hexagonal vase, Yuan dynasty, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, acc.no.:179-1899; and another bronze vase, 13th/14th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, acc.no.:2015.272.壺六方，方口，兩側鑄雙貫耳，口部及貫耳飾錢紋錦地，頸分兩段，上段飾以菱花錦地，前後各攀附螭龍一條，螭龍身形短壯，下段飾回紋錦地，肩部分六格，每格飾龜背錦地，腹部出六短戟，每面飾菱花紋及錢紋錦地組合，束腰修長，上飾蓮瓣紋一周，高圈足。此壺修長停勻，紋飾為一體鑄造，錦地層次豐富，規整利落。壺身所飾錦地皆宋元流行式樣，參考一件標準器，意大利熱那亞國立愛德華多·基歐索尼東方藝術博物館藏元代銅錦地方壺，所飾錦地與本件相同，見D.Failla，《Food for the Ancestors, Flowers for the Gods》，熱那亞，2017年，頁134，圖7.7。亦可參考一件倫敦維多利亞及艾伯特博物館藏一件元代六方瓶，館藏編號179-1899；以及美國大都會博物館藏一件十三/十四世紀四方銅瓶，館藏編號2015.272。