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A RARE AND MASSIVE INSCRIBED STONE ‘DOUBLE-BEAST’ OFFICIAL WEIGHT, GUANFA, QING DYNASTY
奥地利
09月10日 下午5点 开拍 / 09月08日 下午3点 截止委托
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A RARE AND MASSIVE INSCRIBED STONE ‘DOUBLE-BEAST’ OFFICIAL WEIGHT, GUANFA, QING DYNASTY
This lot is a museum deaccession and is therefore offered without reserve

China, Shandong, Jining, 1644-1912. Of cylindrical form with fluted sides, surmounted the large integral handle carved as a double-headed feline beast, each head with circular eyes above a large snout and the mouth revealing a row of sharp teeth, the top with an indentation framed by a circle.

Inscriptions: To one side, ‘Caoyun shisi (a historical authority for the water transportation of taxed goods, specifically grain goods)’, and to the other, ‘Jining guanfa, (Jining city, official weight)’.

Provenance: The Kienzle Family Collection, Stuttgart, Germany. Acquired between 1950 and 1985 by siblings Else (1912-2006), Reinhold (1917-2008), and Dr. Horst Kienzle (1924-2019), during their extensive travels in Asia. Subsequently inherited by Dr. Horst Kienzle and bequeathed to the Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Radevormwald, Germany. Released through museum deaccession in 2024. The Kienzle siblings were avid travelers and passionate collectors of Asian and Islamic art. During their travels, the Kienzle’s sought out and explored temples, monasteries, and markets, always trying to find the best pieces wherever they went, investing large sums of money and forging lasting relationships to ensure they could acquire them. Their fervor and success in this pursuit is not only demonstrated by their collection but further recorded in correspondences between Horst Kienzle and several noted dignitaries, businesses and individuals in Nepal and Ladakh. Their collection had gained renown by the 1970s, but the Kienzle’s stopped acquiring new pieces around 1985. Almost thirty years later, the collection was moved to the Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Radevormwald, opened by Peter Hardt in 2014. Before his death in 2019, Horst Kienzle bequeathed his entire property to Peter Hardt and legally adopted him as his son, who has been using the name Peter Kienzle-Hardt ever since.
Condition: Good condition with extensive wear, traces of use, manufacturing irregularities, signs of weathering and erosion, small losses, chips, nicks, and scratches.

Dimensions: Height 71 cm

Expert’s note:
The double beast motif gracing this official weight was popular during the Qing dynasty and is strongly reminiscent of the ‘double-dragon’ Imperial seals made during this period, see for example a white jade seal commissioned to celebrate the Jiaqing Emperor’s sixtieth birthday, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 May 2005, lot 1235.

This monumental stone weight, carved in a barrel-like form with a robust integral handle in the form of a double-headed feline beast, represents a rare surviving example of a high-capacity standard weight used in the Qing dynasty for official metrology. With its massive size and weight, it would have served as a reference unit in state granaries, salt depots, or regional tax stations, where bulk goods were assessed for levies or redistribution.

While earlier weights from the Qin through Han dynasties were often cast in bronze or iron, the use of stone for large-scale weights became more widespread from the Ming period onward, valued for its durability and ease of carving. This particular form reflects the aesthetics of the Qing court and administration.

Weights of this scale and form are seldom encountered outside of museums, and they likely originated in riverine trading hubs or canal-side warehouses, such as those found near Tianjin, Zhangjiawan, or nodes along the Grand Canal, where grain and salt flowed through imperial supply chains.

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价格信息

拍品估价:1,000 - 2,000 欧元 起拍价格:500 欧元  买家佣金: 35.00%

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