EARLY WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, (1100-771 B.C.)

Details

AN ARCHAIC BRONZE VESSEL, GUI
EARLY WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, (1100-771 B.C.)
The bowl standing on a high, slightly splayed foot and cast with two animal-head handles, the waisted neck cast with a frieze comprising bovine masks, raised roundels and studs on a leiwen ground, the base cast with a band of 'dissolved' taotie and dragons, the bronze with a greyish-brown variagated gun-metal, malachite and ferrous-coloured patina, the centre of the interior cast with an inscription
12 in. (30.5 cm.) across handles

Provenance

E. Morse Collection

Literature

Robert Falk and Virginia Bauer, The Morse Collection of Ancient Chinese Art, New York, 1982, p. 28, cat. no. 13

Exhibited

The Morse Collection of Ancient Chinese Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1982

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Lot Essay

The inscription reads: zuo baoyi, 'made this precious vessel'

The present lot is representative of a large family of gui that was popular during the late Shang and early Western Zhou periods. In contrast to the earlier examples with animal-mask decoration covering the whole surface, the decoration on the present lot is restricted to bands at the foot and around the neck; gui with handles also only became common towards the late Shang.

Compare a related gui illustrated in J. Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collection, Massachusetts, 1990, p. 405, no. 48, which has very similar shape and identical band decoration around the neck, but with different band around the foot.

The result of thermoluminescence analysis report, Oxford C103f77, with samples taken from the core material inside the handles, is consistent with the dating of this lot.

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