Lot 1207
1207
AN ARCHAIC BRONZE RITUAL WINE VESSEL, GU
AN ARCHAIC BRONZE RITUAL WINE VESSEL, GU
AN ARCHAIC BRONZE RITUAL WINE VESSEL, GU
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AN ARCHAIC BRONZE RITUAL WINE VESSEL, GU

LATE SHANG DYNASTY, 12TH-11TH BC

Details
AN ARCHAIC BRONZE RITUAL WINE VESSEL, GU
LATE SHANG DYNASTY, 12TH-11TH BC
The tall slender vessel is divided into three sections. The trumpet-shaped upper body is crisply cast with four upright cicada blades. The central section and spreading foot are decorated with a dense leiwen and taotie-pattern band divided by four vertical ribbed flanges. The surface has a pale green-grey patina with areas of bluish-green encrustation. The interior of the base is cast with a single graph.
10 1/8 in. (25.8 cm.) high
Provenance
Acquired in Japan in 1982.

Lot Essay

There is a single graph of unknown reading cast on the interior of the foot, comprising of what appears to be an animal within a three-sided square. Single character inscriptions like this one often occur on bronzes from the late Shang period and Early Western Zhou, and it is most likely to be a clan emblem or insignia.

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