Bronze flask

A bronze flask cast in the form of an upright fish, the flattened body incised overall with a scale pattern. The spreading foot, which forms the tail of the fish, is incised with oblique lines. The fish’s head forms the mouth of the flask, with the gills and large round eyes clearly indicated. A small taotie mask suspending a plain ring is applied to either side of the shoulder. The metal is covered in an attractive green patina.

•  During the Han dynasty, as the use of animals in sculpture came to the fore, bronze vessels were frequently made in the form of bears, rams or even more exotic animals, such as rhinoceros and elephants. Animals such as horses were also sculpted purely as representations of themselves. Birds or bird vessels also occur, but it is rare for a fish to be used as a decorative element or in a representational manner, as it is in this exotic looking flask. A close parallel is a similar flask in the Shanghai Museum.1 A slightly more stylised flask with plainer handles and larger rings was unearthed in 1950 at Waertugou, Jungar Qi, Ih Ju Meng in Mongolia.2 It is said that the fish was a popular motif during the Han dynasty, as it symbolises a successful harvest season.

1 Beurdeley, M. L’Amateur Chinois, des Han au XXe siècle, Office du Livre, Fribourg, 1966, cat. no. 18, p. 217
2 Chugoku Naimoko – Hoppo Ki Mongolia, Japan, 1983, no. 40, pp. 43 and 155.