Elegant ladle

2 800,00

Bronze
Vietnam
2nd-1st Centuries BC
H. 25 cm

Category:

Description

Ladle is very common object in Ban Chiang – Dong Son tradition. This ladle, however,  little foreign to ladles of Dong Son culture. The ladle shell bowl was too flat and the handle was longer and thiner. But thanks spiral S and “cœur” motives on it’s handle man is easy to agree that this bronze ladle belonged to Ban Chiang-Dong Son tradition.

The ladle was created by casting method basing on wax or one block mould. That means to make a mould man created firstly a ladle in wax or wood/bambus. Then man used fine clay to roll total outside of such organic ladle-model. Some outer were opened through layer of clay before it was heated in fire. The wax or organic ladle-model is burn to ash or smelt. The caster cleans the burn rest of ash or wax inside block clay and corrects the opening holes (air and metal running holes) to complet the block-mould. The smelt metal was poured into the mould through one or two such opening holes.

The bronze ladle has very elegant and soft form. It makes us to have feeling that it is made by organic materials, specialy in jointing point of handle and shell bowl. The beauty of object reflexes itself in total shape. Because that man didn’t need add much decoration except light curving and then strong bending at the end of ladle handle as well as creating a decorated cluster with three pair of spiral circles in shape of laying – “S” or of standing “cœur” in close to jointing position between handle and shell bowl.

Provenance : Private collection, Swiss