J.J. Lally & Co., Oriental Art / New York City, New York
MenuPast Exhibition
Chinese Art from the Scholar’s Studio
March 13 - April 11, 2015
29.
A BRONZE TORTOISE-FORM WATER DROPPER
Early Six Dynasties Period, 3rd-4th Century
the hollow-cast realistic model of a tortoise with short filling-tube in the center, the blunt snout pierced with a small aperture to allow water to be dropped onto the inkstone, the smooth dark surface patina showing traces of green encrustation from burial.
Length 4 1⁄4 inches (10.8 cm)
A very similar bronze tortoise-form water dropper, with an ear-cup held in the mouth of the tortoise, in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Zhongguo wenfang sibao quanji (Compendium of Chinese Scholar’s Objects), Vol. IV, Beijing, 2008, p. 13, no. 18. The same water dropper is also illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Bronze Articles for Daily Use, Shanghai, 2007, p. 160, no. 138.
六朝初期 銅龜形硯滴 長 10.8 厘米
