AN ARCHAISTIC PARCEL-GILT BRONZE JARLET BY HU WENMING, LATE MINGChina, late 16th to early 17th century. The compressed baluster body rising to a short neck with everted rim, cast around the exterior with two large taotie masks reserved on a punched ground, all between silver-wire inlaid key-fret and lotus-lappet bands and below a further key-fret band at the neck, the base with an incised Hu Wenming mark.Provenance: British private collection.Condition: Good condition with extensive surface wear, minor losses, nicks and dents to the edges, all commensurate with the age and type of ware. The gilding is still very well preserved and not worn down, as in many Hu Wenming pieces.Weight: 156.6 gDimensions: Height 6 cmHu Wenming is one of the most renowned metalworkers in Chinese history and one of the few whose name and style are discussed in Chinese art-historical writing. Most of the works attributed to Hu Wenming are scholarly objects, such as incense burners and brush pots, characterized by densely worked backgrounds covered with naturalistic and other motifs cast in high relief.Literature comparison: Compare a similar jar illustrated in the Oriental Art Gallery's June 1993 exhibition, Oriental Works of Art, no. 135. Compare also the pou-shaped incense burners, one dated 1613, in Tsang and Moss, Arts from the Scholar's Studio, no. 103, pp. 135-6; and another from the Sir Harry Garner Collection included in the Oriental Ceramics Society exhibition The Arts of the Ming Dynasty, no. 290, pl. 77.Auction result comparison: A very similar jarlet with a Hu Wenming mark was sold by Christie's Hong Kong in Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art (Including The Su Zhu An Collection of Inkstones) on 27 November 2013, lot 3589, for HKD 150,000.明末胡文明款局部鎏金銅罐 中國,十六世紀末至十七世紀初。寬肩,頸外翻,大型饕餮紋,錯銀,肩部蓮紋,頸部雷紋。底部胡文明款。 來源:英國私人收藏 品相:品相良好,表面磨損嚴重,輕微的磕損、划痕和凹痕,這些都與拍品年代和類型相對應。像許多胡文明作品一樣,鎏金仍然保存得很好,並且沒有磨損。 重量:156.6 克 尺寸:高6 厘米 文獻比較: Oriental Art Gallery's,1993年6月展覽,Oriental Works of Art,no. 135。另一件瓿形香爐,定爲1613年,Tsang and Moss收藏,Arts from the Scholar's Studio,no. 103,pp. 135-6;另一件來自Sir Harry Garner收藏,見 Oriental Ceramics Society exhibition The Arts of the Ming Dynasty, no. 290, pl. 77。 拍賣結果比較:一件非常相近的胡文明款銅罐售于香港佳士得Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art (Including The Su Zhu An Collection of Inkstones) ,2013年11月27日,lot 3589,售價HKD 150,000。