A VERY RARE BLACK AND RED PAINTED LACQUER 'DRAGON HEAD' WINE LADLEWestern Han DynastyThe oval bowl with flanged sides, the interior lacquered in black and finely painted with a band of knotted geometric motifs at the rim and a row of 'S' and C' scrolls encircling mythical winged animals, two felines and a deer, each with spotted fur and a feathery tail, similarly decorated on the exterior with reversed colour arrangement, the handle shaft looped up at the end and terminating in the head of a dragon, finely detailed with an upturned snout and flared nostrils above the mouth which is open to reveal prominent teeth and tongue, a single S-shaped horn curved over the back of the head onto the neck.10.8cm (10 1/4in) high.For further information on this lot please visit theProvenance: Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve.本拍品不設底價西漢 彩繪龍首柄漆勺ProvenanceThe Feng Wen Tang Collection來源：奉文堂珍藏Compare with a Western Han dynasty lacquer ladle with cloud pattern and dragon-head-shaped handle in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated inIn a Myriad of Forms: The Ancient Chinese Lacquers, Shanghai, 2018, pl.024;pare also with another ladle with horse-head-shaped handle from the same period, illustrated inZhongguo meishu quanji: qiqi, Heibei, 1998, pl.47, pp.48. For a similar design on works of art in other mediums, see a 3rd century gilt bronze ladle with handle in the shape of a dragon's head in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, .90.木胎，勺呈半圓形，長柄。柄部雕龍首，龍身下展為勺。內髹黑漆，口緣處環一圈幾何紋，勺内朱漆繪動物紋。勺柄及外部部分漆皮剝落，僅見少許黑、朱漆痕跡，推測原亦繪雲紋。參看上海博物館藏一件非常相似的西漢彩繪雲紋龍頭勺，該龍口内銜珠，見《千文萬華：中國歷代漆器藝術》，上海，2018年，頁52。亦可比較一件西漢彩繪馬頭形柄漆勺，見《中國美術全集：漆器》，河北，1998年，圖四七，頁48。此外，紐約大都會博物館藏一件鎏金青銅龍頭勺上的龍頭設計與本拍品頗爲接近，館藏編號。