TWO RARE BRONZE RITUAL LADLES

LATE SHANG DYNASTY, CIRCA 1100 BC

Details

TWO RARE BRONZE RITUAL LADLES
LATE SHANG DYNASTY, CIRCA 1100 BC
One with arched handle with an openwork terminal cast as a dragon confronting a bird, with a bovine mask cast at the base of the ovoid bowl at the other end; the slender arched handle of the other ladle cast with fine ribs set between a taotie mask cast in intaglio at one end just below the similarly ribbed barrel-shaped bowl and another taotie cast in relief at the other end below the fan-shaped terminal cast with a cicada and key-fret border
8 and 8¼ in. (20.3 and 21 cm.) long (2)

Provenance

First ladle: acquired prior to 1987.
Second ladle: C.T. Loo & Co., New York.
Frank Caro, New York, 1961.

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Lot Essay

Two ladles similar to both of the present ladles are illustrated in Zhongguo Qingtongqi Quanji - 3 - Shang, Beijing, 1997, p. 164, no. 163, which is similar to the second ladle, and p. 166, no. 166, which is similar to the first with the openwork handle.

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