A RARE BRONZE OPENWORK HEXAGONAL ARROW VASE, TOUHU Song/Yuan DynastyA RARE BRONZE OPENWORK HEXAGONAL ARROW VASE, TOUHUSong/Yuan DynastyElaborately cast in hexagonal section with conforming hollow tube handles at the top of the long openwork neck with flower-heads, the body decorated with stalks of wheat and stylized flowers, all raised on a circular waisted stand pierced with pendant ruyi-heads and flower-heads. 23.6cm (9 1/4in) high, 2.4kg.宋/元 銅鏤空六方花草紋雙耳投壺Provenance:Phoenix Antiques, London, 8 August 2001The Brian Harkins Collection來源：2001年8月8日購於倫敦Phoenix Antiques布萊恩·哈金斯珍藏Openwork bronze vases are rare, compare however with a related openwork bronze vase, 12th-14th century, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, illustrated by R.Kerr, Later Chinese Bronzes, London, 1990, p.29, pl.16. Compare also an openwork bronze vase, Yuan dynasty, excavated from the Sinan wreck, which left Japan in 1323 and sunk during its voyage (inv.no.sin 7319), illustrated by Lee Myong Ok, 'Discoveries from the Sinan Shipwreck' in Discoveries from the Sinan Shipwreck: Special Exhibition on the 40th Anniversary of the Excavation, Seoul, 2016, p.225.The design of ruyi feet is typical of stands in the Song and Yuan dynasties. Compare with a bronze stand, Southern Song dynasty, with similar feet design, unearthed in Lang Zhong, Sichuan Province, illustrated by Q.M.Zhang in the 'Sichuan Langzhongxian Chutu Songdai Jiaocang'(A Song Dynasty Cache Excavated in Langzhong County, Sichuan Province), Cultural Relics, July 1984, p.89, pl.22. Ruyi feet resting on a stretcher can also be seen on blue and white porcelain vessels of the Yuan dynasty. Compare with two similar blue and white 'plum blossom' vases on stands without openwork and handles, excavated in Jiangxi, illustrated in Splendors in Smalt: Art of Yuan Blue and White Porcelain, Shanghai, 2012, no.73.壺頸六面鏤空，呈十字網格狀，每個十字交叉處飾花一朵，壺口兩側鑄貫耳，貫耳飾菱形幾何錦地，肩部斜平，上飾草葉紋，腹部鏤空，飾花草紋，束腰鏤空，下承足台，足台鏤空，六角如意雲頭腳，下承足圈。鏤空銅器頗少見，英國維多利亞及艾伯特博物館藏一件十二至十四世紀鏤空草葉紋銅瓶為僅見之他例，見柯玫瑰著，《Later Chinese Bronzes》，倫敦，1990年，頁29，圖16。又可參考新安沉船出土一件元代鏤空銅壺，見Lee Myong Ok撰，〈Discoveries from the Sinan Shipwreck〉，載於《Discoveries from the Sinan Shipwreck: Special Exhibition on the 40th Anniversary of the Excavation》，首爾，2016年，頁225。此類雲頭腳常見於宋元器座，四川閬中出土一件南宋銅器座之雲頭腳可做參考，見張啟明撰，《四川閬中縣出土宋代窖藏》，載於《文物》，1984年7月，頁89，圖22。雲頭腳加托泥圈足之形制常見於元代青花瓷，可比較兩件江西出土之青花梅紋帶座瓶，除無貫耳及鏤空之外，整體形貌與本件投壺頗似，見上海博物館編，《幽藍神采：元代青花瓷器特集》，上海，2012年，編號73。