A RARE BRONZE SQUARE ARROW VASE, TOUHU Yuan DynastyA RARE BRONZE SQUARE ARROW VASE, TOUHUYuan DynastyOf square section with a spreading foot cast with inverted archaistic lappets, rising to a square body flanked by lion-head handles, the shoulders with four panels enclosing lotus buds and leaves, the tall neck flanked at the top by a pair of handles and decorated with four bands of different diamond diaper grounds, the lowest band further decorated with four treasures and followers, the body decorated with key-fret and other archaistic diaper grounds, the bronze of a dark reddish-brown patina. 46.8cm (18 3/8in) high, 8.4kg.元 銅貫耳雜文錦地鋪首四方投壺Provenance:The Brian Harkins Collection來源：布萊恩·哈金斯珍藏The intricate diaper grounds decorating the present vase are typical of bronze vessels dating to the Southern Song and the Yuan dynasties. Compare with three bronze vases, Yuan dynasty, in the Edoardo Chiossone Museum of Oriental Art in Genoa, Italy, all decorated with groups of diaper-patterns in three bands, illustrated by D.Failla, Food for the Ancestors, Flowers for the Gods, Genova, 2017, pp.134-135, figs.7.7-7.9. Compare also a tripod bronze vase excavated from a Southern Song hoard in Pengzhou, decorated with latticework to the handles, illustrated by the National Museum of China, Songyun: Sichuan Jiaocang Wenwu Jicui (The Style of Song: Cultural Relics Unearthed in Sichuan Province), Beijing, 2006, p.212. See also a bronze 'garlic-head' vase, Yuan dynasty, excavated from the Zhibiao Pagoda in Haining, Zhejiang, with a similar hexagonal ground, illustrated by M.Wang in the 'Song Yuan Fanggu Qingtongqi Shang De Wenyang', Shoucangjia (The Collectors), October 2010, p.48, pl.11.壺四面方正，口方唇，兩側鑄貫耳，口及貫耳飾方口窗棱紋錦地，長頸紋飾分三層，上層三角形錦地，其內點圓點，中層龜甲紋錦地，亦點圓點，下層菱花紋錦地，內飾雜卉、八寶及平行棱線，平肩，肩分四格，每格飾四季花卉，壺腹左右兩側正中鑄獸首，獸首兩側飾陽線雲紋，壺身前後兩側飾菱花紋錦地，高圈足，束腰飾俯葉蕉葉紋，足圈分兩層。此壺四方，鑄造難度頗大，錦地紋飾複雜，與壺身一體鑄造成大體之後再鏨刻細部而成。此類反複多變之多層錦地在南宋至元代銅器上頗為流行，參考三件意大利熱那亞國立愛德華多·基歐索尼東方藝術博物館所藏元代銅壺，皆是一體三層錦地，見《Food for the Ancestors Flowers for the Gods》，熱那亞，2017年，頁134-135，圖7.7-7.9，可見為一時風氣。貫耳之窗欞紋錦地可比較彭州南宋窖藏出土之三足銅壺腹部所飾窗欞紋錦地環帶，見中國國家博物館編，《宋韻：四川窖藏文物輯粹》，北京，2006年， 頁212；龜甲紋錦地可比較浙江海寧智標塔出土之元代蒜頭銅瓶所飾龜背紋，見王牧撰，《宋元仿古青銅器上的紋樣》，載於《收藏家》，2010年10，頁48，圖11。