Lot 136 , China, a group of 7 bronze charms or amulets, Qing dynasty,

China, a group of 7 bronze charms or amulets, Qing dynasty, each with a four character inscription obverse and a pictorial reverse, to include Tian Zi Wan Nian ([May the] Son of Heaven [live for] Ten Thousand Years), Hartill, Cast Chinese Amulets 4.1004, 48mm, good F, Yi Er Zi Sun (Ye locusts, winged tribes..), rev. flowers, variation of Hartill CCA-4.252, 50mm, F, Zhuang Yuan Bai Xiang (Top graduate, become Prime Minister), rev. two scholars, Hartill CCA-4.2240, 47mm, good F, also some illustrated in Mandel 15.4.28, 15.11.10 and 15.21.2, 44-50mm, all F to VF


Estimate £150-200


Provenance - Alfred Theodore Arber-Cooke (c.1905-1993); thence by family descent. Arber-Cooke was an antiquarian and avid collector of Asian works of art, coins and antiquities principally collecting from the 1930s to the 1970s. He amassed a good reference library on Chinese & Asian coins and wrote on several occasions (1969-70) to to the academic F.A. Turk regarding the study of coin amulets and other non-currency coinages of China. A number of the Asian numismatic reference books will be offered in our 29th March sale.

Arber-Cooke initially lived in Wimbledon, Greater London and was involved with the Surrey Archaeological Society. He wrote the book 'Old Wimbledon', with a foreword the MP Sir Arthur Fell, published in 1927. He later moved to Llandovery in Carmarthenshire, Wales, again involved with local archaeology and wrote the History of Llandovery, published in 1975.


Descriptions provided in both printed and on-line catalogue formats do not include condition reports. The absence of a condition statement does not imply that the lot is in perfect condition or completely free from wear and tear, imperfections or the effects of aging. Interested bidders are strongly encouraged to request a condition report on any lots upon which they intend to bid, prior to placing a bid. All transactions are governed by Gorringes Conditions of Sale.

Sold for £2,200