China, Eastern Zhou, 5th - 4th century B.C. - Lot 26

China, Eastern Zhou, 5th - 4th century B.C. Five bronze end pieces to support a canopy or awning, 蓋弓帽 gaigongmao, each hollow on one side with two fixing holes on the sides and a ring or rope hook (preserved only on 3 of them) above, featuring a scaled chimera head, from whose mouth a curved, faceted end emerges. L. 8.8 cm Provenance : Collection acquired (by the current owner's husband) from Marianne Densmore in the early 1960s in Paris, and at the sale of her collection after her death, on November 6, 7 and 8, 1968 at Drouot; some items therefore probably came from the collection of Charles Vignier (1863-1934), Marianne Densmore's brother, whose gallery she took over in 1934 (on his death). Compare with the set of five held at the Freer gallery, "five canopy fittings or finials", inventory no. F1979.18 to F1979.22, provenance: Orvar Karlbeck (1879-1967), and with the lot of four canopy fittings sold by Sotheby's New York on March 22, 2022, The Dr Wou Kiuan Collection Part 1, lot 136. [5]