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Lot Essay
Gu, which were ritual vessels used for wine, are one of the most recognizable of bronze forms of the Shang dynasty. The vessels date to as early as the Erlitou period, circa 2000 to 1500 BC, at which time they were a simple slender beaker, and eventually evolved into the elegant trumpet-mouthed vessel of the late Anyang period of 12th-11th century BC date.
The Falk gu do not have quite as attenuated a shape as those dating to the very end of the Anyang period, and the small plain boss-like eyes and diffuse, flat-cast decoration also point to a 13th-12th century BC date. Compare the pair of stylistically similar gu illustrated by B. Karlgren and J. Wirgin, Chinese Bronzes: The Natanael Wessén Collection, Stockholm, 1969, no.16, pls. 23, 24. Where the Falk gu have descending birds on the spreading foot, the Wessén examples have confronted dragons which form taotie masks confronted on the flange. The decoration on the central section is also different, but the blades on the flaring neck appear to be quite similar, and on both pairs there is a scrolled band bordering the decoration at the base of the neck and the top of the foot. Another gu of similar proportions, also with flat-cast decoration, small eyes and shallow flanges, as well as the scroll bands, is illustrated in Bronze de la Chine antique du XVIII au III siècles avant J.C., 1988, no. 74. Compare, also, the example with bands of dragons in place of the scrolls, but with the other similar features shared by the aforementioned gu, included in the exhibition, Bronzen aus dem alten China, Zurich, Museum Rietberg, 1975, p. 78, no. 35.
The Falk gu do not have quite as attenuated a shape as those dating to the very end of the Anyang period, and the small plain boss-like eyes and diffuse, flat-cast decoration also point to a 13th-12th century BC date. Compare the pair of stylistically similar gu illustrated by B. Karlgren and J. Wirgin, Chinese Bronzes: The Natanael Wessén Collection, Stockholm, 1969, no.16, pls. 23, 24. Where the Falk gu have descending birds on the spreading foot, the Wessén examples have confronted dragons which form taotie masks confronted on the flange. The decoration on the central section is also different, but the blades on the flaring neck appear to be quite similar, and on both pairs there is a scrolled band bordering the decoration at the base of the neck and the top of the foot. Another gu of similar proportions, also with flat-cast decoration, small eyes and shallow flanges, as well as the scroll bands, is illustrated in Bronze de la Chine antique du XVIII au III siècles avant J.C., 1988, no. 74. Compare, also, the example with bands of dragons in place of the scrolls, but with the other similar features shared by the aforementioned gu, included in the exhibition, Bronzen aus dem alten China, Zurich, Museum Rietberg, 1975, p. 78, no. 35.