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Lot Essay
Compare a yi of similar size (9.5 cm. high) and almost identical decoration, with its original cover adorned by human figures and dragons, excavated in 1989 in Shangguo village, Wenxi county and now in the Shanxi Archaeological Research Institute, illustrated in Selected Cultural Relics from Local Museums in Shanxi: Bronzes, Shanxi, 1995, p. 53, no. 81, where it is dated late Western Zhou.
The shape of this yi is also similar to that of an excavated example with cover (6.5 cm. high) from Shanxi Houma Shangmacun M14, dated 7th century BC, illustrated by J. So, Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, 1995, p. 347, fig. 69.3. The legs and handles are similar to those of the present vessel and the spout is also in the shape of an animal head. Similar bands of feather scales can also be seen below an upper dragon band. The cover of the Shanxi yi is surmounted by a standing dog.
The shape of this yi is also similar to that of an excavated example with cover (6.5 cm. high) from Shanxi Houma Shangmacun M14, dated 7th century BC, illustrated by J. So, Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, 1995, p. 347, fig. 69.3. The legs and handles are similar to those of the present vessel and the spout is also in the shape of an animal head. Similar bands of feather scales can also be seen below an upper dragon band. The cover of the Shanxi yi is surmounted by a standing dog.