9 A fine and rare bronze figural lamp Warring States period Height: 10 3/8 in, 26.3 cm the solid male figure, kneeling on an integral rectangular base, holds a cylindrical socket in his outstretched hands. The detached lamp is raised on a faceted standard supporting an angular dish with a central spike. The naked figure has incised hair partly covered by a tightly fitting cap, a broad oval face with small ears, incised brows over almond-shaped eyes, a large nose and full lips. The bronze bears a mellow patina, with some golden areas, with red and green encrustation.

For related lamps, see Chugoku Sengoku Jidai No Bijutsu (Chinese Art of the Warring States Period), nos. 99 and 100, p. 81; Li, The Glorious Traditions of Chinese Bronzes: From the Anthony & Susan Hardy Collections and the Sze Yuan Tang, no. 58, pp. 144–5; Pre-Qin Civilization in the Jiangshan Region, no. 81, excavated from Tomb No. 2 at Baoshan, Jingmen in 1986 and now in the collection of the Hubei Provincial Museum; and A Selection of Ancient Chinese Bronzes, pl. 72, for a large lamp excavated in 1975 from a Warring States tomb at Shancunling, Sanmenxia, Henan province, and now in the Henan Provincial Museum. For a Western Han example, see Rawson and Bunker, Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, no. 46, pp. 142–3.