A CHINESE GILT BRONZE ‘XIEZHI’ WEIGHT.Ming Dynasty.The beast standing foursquare on a low rectangular base, the head raised behind, and the tail curled around the left hind leg, incised two character Xuande mark to base.3.5cm H 4.5cm long.85g.Provenance: British Private Collection.明 銅獬豸紙鎮，「宣德」款 Xuande mark and period bronzes have been dubbed ‘the holy grail’ of Chinese bronzes for their elusive and almost mythical quality. Gerard Hawthorn ascribes two bronzes with inscribed Xuande marks to the period, see Sotheby’s, Later Chinese Bronzes from the Collection of Mr and Mrs Gerard Hawthorn, 2015, lots 9 and 34. Incised marks were certainly present on Xuande mark and period cloisonné enamel pieces as attested by three examples in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, see Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum, 2011, p 128, cat no 54; p 130 cat no 55; and p 138, cat no 60, however, in all three examples the characters are incised in outline and so do not bear direct comparison. Inscribed marks securely dateable as of the period can be found in other media, for example, see a cinnabar lacquer table in the collection of the V&A Museum, with six character incised Xuande mark and of the period, see F. Low- Beer, ‘Chinese Lacquer of the Early 15th Century’, Bulletin MFEA, 22, Stockholm 1950, pl 14-18, p 151, or a yellow glazed bowl, with six character mark, and of the period, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, 1994-2010, vol 4, no 1665.