A BRONZE TRIPOD POURING VESSEL, HE, WARRING STATES TO HAN DYNASTYChina, 5th century BC to 2nd century AD. Of globular form, the body cast in two parts joined at the waist with a notable rib. Supported on three bear-form feet, rising to an upright rim, the shoulder set with a bird-head spout with hinged cover, and a square sectioned dragon-head handle hollowed to receive an insert. The bronze with a rich, naturally grown, solid patina with distinct areas of malachite and cuprite encrustation. The scattered gold splashes on the body are what is left of the original gilding below the patina.Provenance: A French private collection built between ca. 1980 and 2012. Thence by descent.Condition: Good condition,mensurate with age. Extensive wear, losses, signs of weathering and corrosion, encrustations, corrosion, old fills, nicks, and scratches. The hinge of the spout cover has corroded off. The lid is missing.Weight: 1,132 gDimensions: Height 13.2 cmLiteratureparison:Compare a related bronze vessel, he, with elaborate spout, illustrated in Eleanor von Erdberg, Chinese Bronzes from the Collection of Chester Dale and Dolly Carter, Switzerland, 1978, no. 41, p. 64.pare a related bronze vessel, referred to as jiaohu, excavated from a tomb of the mid to late Western Han dynasty at Dongyang, Xuyi county, Jiangsu province, illustrated in a line drawing in Kaogu, 1979, no. 5, p. 422, fig. 10; 6.pare a related bronze wine kettle, he, 12.3 cm, Warring states period, 3rd century BC, in the Nara National Museum, accession number 1317-89.Auction resultparison:Type: Closely relatedAuction: Sotheby’s New York, 21 September 2005, lot 154Price: USD 5,400 or approx.EUR 6,700 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writingDescription: A Bronze Tripod Kettle, (He), Warring States / Han DynastyExpert remark:pare the closely related form, handle, spout, feet, and size (14 cm). Note the cover.戰國至漢代青銅三足盉中國，公元前五世紀至公元二世紀。短直頸，球形器，身體分為兩部分，腰部有一道明顯的弦紋，三獸足，肩部有一個帶鉸鏈蓋的鳥頭流，以及一個空心的方形龍頭手柄。銅器有自然堅固的銅鏽，帶有明顯的紅綠銅結殼區域。身體上散落的金色飛濺是銅鏽下方原始鎏金的殘留物。