A FINE AND LARGE ARCHAIC BRONZE TRIPOD CENSER, DING

MIDDLE WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY

Details

A FINE AND LARGE ARCHAIC BRONZE TRIPOD CENSER, DING
middle western zhou dynasty
The rounded body cast with a band of confronted stylised dragons, divided by short vertical flanges below the everted rim cast with upright loop handles, standing on three stout legs surmounted by taotie masks with central flanges, the surface with a mottled dark olive and grey patination, some areas with malachite and cuprite encrustation, some bruises and restoration
14¼ in. (36.2 cm.) high

Provenance

The Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Christie's New York, 1 December 1994, lot 134

Literature

Jessica Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, 1990, no.21.

Lot Essay

A similar ding excavated in Shaanxi Chang'an Mawangcun is illustrated in Kaogu, 1974:l, pl.2:1, as well as its inscription, fig.3:2.
J. Rawson suggests, in Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, that ding of this type, with a narrow frieze around the neck and relief taotie on the legs, were made in large numbers and continuously during the latter half of the Western Zhou, indicating that it was one of the standard ritual vessels of the period.

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