AN ARCHAISTIC SILVER AND GOLD-INLAID BRONZE VASE, HU 17th/18th centuryAN ARCHAISTIC SILVER AND GOLD-INLAID BRONZE VASE, HU17th/18th centuryOf archaistic hu form, the baluster body rising from a straight foot, set at the shoulders with three taotie masks handles issuing loose rings, all beneath a waisted neck, the exterior decorated with three raised bands with geometric patterns in silver and gold, the registers decorated on a diamond-pattern ground. 41cm (16in) high.Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價十七/十八世紀 銅錯金銀饕餮耳活環壺The archaistic design on the present lot reflects the archaistic scholarly trends of the late Ming period which continued into the Qing dynasty. The academic trend known as the 'search for evidence' (kaozheng 考證) movement began in the early 17th century and reached its height in the 18th century. Although this movement originated in a renewed scholarly interest in ancient texts and inscriptions on archaic bronzes, as literati sought a more empirical approach to understanding their ancient heritage, it led to a greater fascination for decorative designs adopted from ancient bronzes too. Compare with a related archaistic vase with taotie-mask ring handles, 17th/18th century, illustrated by D.Failla, Food for the Ancestors Flowers for the Gods: Transformations of Archaistic Bronzes in China and Japan, Genoa, 2017, p.224, no.7.12. See also a related gold and silver damascened bronze vase, 18th century, illustrated by Syndey L.Moss Ltd., The Second Bronze Age: Later Chinese Metalwork, London, 1991, no.59.