30 - The Property of a Gentleman, to be offered without reserve (Lots 1 - 56)

The Property of a Gentleman, to be offered without reserve (Lots 1 - 56) A large Chinese lead green-glazed moulded jar and cover, hu Han dynasty Moulded with a wide band of mythical beasts to the shoulder, and a pair of mock-embossed, mythical-beast-and-loop-ring handles, the cover in the shape of a mystical mountain peak, the red body covered overall in a thick, bright, lead-green glaze,43.5cm high. (Import Duty Charged on the Hammer Price) 落槌價徵收進口關稅 Provenance: British private collection, assembled in Hong Kong 1988-1998. 漢 綠釉模印狩獵走獸紋蓋壺 來源：英國私人收藏，於1988至1998年間在香港購藏。 The present green-glazed 'hunting' jar is a characteristic example of Han-dynasty low-fired lead-glazed pottery, produced as a mingqi funerary object in imitation of contemporary bronze ritual vessels. A continuous band of relief-moulded hunting scenes encircles the vessel between the shoulder and the body. The decoration depicts mounted hunters drawing their bows and nocking arrows amidst beasts, their movements vividly rendered through a skilful interplay of density and space, solidity and emptiness. From the earliest beginnings of human civilisation, hunting was indispensable to survival and remained so for millennia. As civilisation advanced and productive capacity increased, however, hunting gradually evolved from a means of subsistence into an activity associated with politics, warfare and leisure. The pursuit and struggle between hunter and quarry, with their inherent tension and excitement, together with the intense sensory and psychological experience of the moment when the prey was finally brought down, exerted a profound influence on social life and cultural thought. The symbolic meanings embodied in hunting consequently became an enduring and favoured subject in artistic expression, particularly in the decoration of Han-dynasty pottery. 綠釉狩獵紋陶壺為典型漢代低溫鉛釉陶器，為模仿青銅禮器燒製的陶明器。在肩部和腹部之間裝飾有一周浮雕狩獵紋，兩側有對稱的鋪首銜環，印有騎馬持弓引箭的涉獵者，奔走嘶嘯的飛禽走獸，畫面疏密虛實處理巧妙。 在人類文明肇始之初，狩獵即為維繫生存所不可或缺之途，綿延久遠。至文明漸盛，生產力日益發達，狩獵隨之由昔日賴以謀生目的漸而演變為政治、軍事與遊娛之事。狩獵之際，追逐與搏殺所蘊含之緊張與刺激，以及獵物伏誅之瞬間所帶來的強烈感官與心理體驗，對社會生活與文化觀念產生深遠影響。其所承載之象徵意義逐漸成為藝術表現中備受青睞之題材，尤見於漢代陶器裝飾之中。