A MASSIVE BRONZE TRIPOD VESSEL AND COVER, DING

Details

A MASSIVE BRONZE TRIPOD VESSEL AND COVER, DING
WARRING STATES

The deep, rounded body raised on three short legs issuing from finely detailed taotie masks cast in high relief, the sides cast in shallow relief with two decorative bands separated by a narrow braided rope border, the lower band composed of overlapping, leiwen-filled dragons shown in profile, the broader, upper band decorated with interlocking dragons, the various areas of their bodies decorated with leiwen, scales, stripes and granular pattern, with a pair of curved, upright handles decorated with further dragons and rope-twist bands, the domed cover similarly decorated and applied with three recumbent water buffalos which act as supports when the cover is inverted, with pale blue-green patina and encrustation, extensive restoration--24in. (61cm.) across handles

Lot Essay

A group of large tripod ding, with and without covers, discussed and illustrated in line drawings in an article by Li Xiating, "A Study of the Bronzes Unearthed from the Hunyuan County, Shanxi", Wenwu, 1992:10, pp. 64 and 65, figs. 2 and 3, includes a ding, fig. 2:8, which appears very similar to the present example, except for the substitution of ducks for the water buffalo and a knop in the center of the cover. Recumbent water buffalo can be seen, however, on the cover of the ding illustrated in fig. 3:2

Compare, also, the covered ding of slightly larger size (26 3/16 in. across) which has very similar decorative bands and handles, as well as masks surmounting each leg, but with rings in place of the buffalo, illustrated by d'Argencé, Ancient Chinese Bronzes in the Avery Brundage Collection, California, 1966, pl. XXXIX. A ding of this type with similar recumbent water buffalo on the cover is in the Musée Cernuschi, Paris, and is illustrated by Deydier, Les Bronzes Chinois, Switzerland, 1980, fig. 85, p. 229