A RARE AND UNUSUAL BRONZE RITUAL EWER AND COVER, HE

Details

A RARE AND UNUSUAL BRONZE RITUAL EWER AND COVER, HE
LATE WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, 1100-771 B.C.

Raised on four supports formed by a figure whose bent forelegs metamorphose into dragon heads shown seated atop a crouching animal, the slightly convex sides of the vessel cast in low relief with concentric rings of interlocking dragon scroll surrounding a central boss, the eyes of the dragons also formed by a boss, with a similar pattern on the narrow sides, the spout formed as a rearing animal with pricked ears and wide-open mouth, the faceted loop handle terminating at its base in a dragon head and the top cast with a taotie mask and projecting, backswept horns flanking the small figure of a tiger, its head turned backwards to look at a small seated bear supporting a larger tiger, also with backward-turned head and ring-like feet through which pins are slotted, which forms the removable hinge of the rectangular, faceted cover cast with panels of dragon scroll on the canted sides below an upper platform cast on top with further bands of dragon scroll and at the corners in high relief with small birds, their heads similar to that of the central bird finial, with an allover pale grayish-green patina
13in. (33cm.) long

Lot Essay

This vessel bears comparison with the famous and similarly extaordinary he uncovered in Qijiacun, Fufeng, Shaanxi province in 1963 and now displayed at the Shaanxi Provincial Museum. It is exhaustively published; see Jessica Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. IIA, Washington D.C., 1990, p. 108, fig. 152; Li Xueqin (ed.), Zhongguo Meishu Quanji, Gongyi Meishu, Qingtongqi (The Great Treasury of Chinese Fine Arts, Arts and Crafts, 4, Bronzes [I]), Beijing, 1987, p. 209, no. 230; and Gems of China's Cultural Relics, Beijing, 1993, no. 78.

Other he are published, but none appear to be as ornate as either the Fufeng he or the present example. See René-Yvon Lefebvre d'Argencé, Bronze Vessels of Ancient China in the Avery Brundage Collection, Tokyo, 1977, pp. 96-97, pl. XL; Max Loehr, Relics of Ancient China from The Collection of Dr. Paul Singer, New York, 1965, p. 81, no. 51; and Bo Gyllensvard and John Alexander Pope, Chinese Art from the Collection of H.M. King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, New York, 1966, Catalogue, 24, no. 13

According to Jenny So, Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. III, Washington, D.C., 1995, p. 409, "Wine containers with pouring spouts were produced in China since the early Shang Period. Shang and early Western Zhou vessels differ in the form of their handles from those made during the Eastern Zhou period: the Shang and Western Zhou vessels have lug handles opposite the spout, whereas Eastern Zhou he typically have bail handles fixed to the vessel's shoulder, a feature probably derived from ceramic prototypes made in the southeast since late Western Zhou times"