AN EXTREMELY RARE GOLD AND SILVER-INLAID BRONZE VASE, HU HAN (206 B.C.-220 A.D.) 16 cm Height

Bronze vase Japan probably 19th cent, unmarked, bronze, cast and mounted in several parts, elaborately chased, silver and gold inlaid, slender, slightly bulbous body on three feet sculptured as rat heads, the wall decorated in detailed relief with a figurative scene from the world of legends in which a warrior in armour slays a mythical creature, framed by ornamentation, the upper third flanked by two massive handles on either side, signs of age and corrosion, h 29 cm.