RARE BRONZE WATER DROPPER, EARLY MING DYNASTY

RARE BRONZE WATER DROPPER, EARLY MING DYNASTY, finely cast to form a mythical dragon turtle (Lónggui), on a hardwood stand, 10cm long NOTE: A Korean celadon water dropper of the same form, dated Goryeo Dynasty, circa 12th / 13th century, is illustrated in Watt, The World o Khubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan dynasty, fig. 24, p. 15. Also a related bronze water dropper in the shape of an auspicious animal, dated Song to Yuan, in Dynastic Renaissance Art and Culture of the Southern Song, Antiquities, No. 111-91, p. 223, in the collection of the National Palace Museum Tapei.