A LARGE ARCHAIC BRONZE 'INSCRIBED' WATER BASIN (JIAN) EASTER...

Hammer

£2,800

A LARGE ARCHAIC BRONZE 'INSCRIBED' WATER BASIN (JIAN)
EASTERN ZHOU DYNASTY 
蟠螭纹兽耳青铜鑑 西周
the sides decorated with three wide bands of entwined archaistic scrolls, the everted rim applied with for pronounced d-shaped mask and loop handles
45cm wide 

PROVENANCE: The Denis and Oliver Barnham Collection 

Denis Barnham (1921-1981) was a pilot, artist, teacher, author and a collector of Chinese porcelain and works of art. Denis was a spitfire pilot during the Second World War and flew during The Siege of Malta in 1942.  He went on to publish a book about the events during the siege. He appears in the book 'Provenance' by Roy Davids & Dominic Jellinek, where it notes that he lived in Wimborne Dorset, and that he was more of a vendor with the firm Bluett's than a buyer having only made one purchase from the firm in 1950, but sold a number of pieces from his collection during the late 1940's and 1950's. Along with his wife Diana the Barnham's held two loan exhibitions at the Oriental Ceramics Society in 1949.

Oliver Barnham (b1944) Executive with HSBC in the far East between 1966-2000, posted in Borneo, Hong Kong, India, Japan and China. Like his father before him Oliver was a keen collector of Chinese Art with a particular interest in bronzes and early pottery  wares. Today he is a keen collector of military tanks and is a trustee of the Bovington tank Museum in Dorset. 

NOTE: For a similar example similar basin sold at auction see: Sotheby's New York, Important Chinese Art, 22nd Sept 2021, lot 17.

More Information

Overall in good condition, no visible breaks or repairs, signs of age with expected wear and minor casting imperfections.