Lot Essay
Acquired in December 1995.
An identical example excavated in 1950 in Anyang District, Henan Province, is illustrated in Zhongguo Meishu Quanji, vol. 4, no. 61.
A zun of similar shape, but with differently decorated bands, is illustrated in Robert W. Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Cambridge/MA, 1987, fig. 48.3. Apart from the shape, it shares with the present lot a similar central band, which is cast with taotie masks between horizontal bands of circles; this characteristic is also apparent on the following two zun published in op. cit., figs. 48.4 and 48.5.
An identical example excavated in 1950 in Anyang District, Henan Province, is illustrated in Zhongguo Meishu Quanji, vol. 4, no. 61.
A zun of similar shape, but with differently decorated bands, is illustrated in Robert W. Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Cambridge/MA, 1987, fig. 48.3. Apart from the shape, it shares with the present lot a similar central band, which is cast with taotie masks between horizontal bands of circles; this characteristic is also apparent on the following two zun published in op. cit., figs. 48.4 and 48.5.