LATE SHANG/EARLY WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, 12TH-11TH CENTURY BC

Details

A BRONZE RITUAL TRIPOD STEAMER, XIAN
LATE SHANG/EARLY WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, 12TH-11TH CENTURY BC
The deep bowl cast in intaglio with a taotie band filled with black inlay below a pair of upright bail handles, each mask centered between the three bovine masks hollow-cast at the top of each leg, the bottom of the interior fitted with a hinged, reticulated triangular grate, with a two-character inscription cast below the rim on the interior
15 1/8 in. (38.4 cm.) high

Provenance

Acquired in Palm Desert, California in 1998.

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Lot Essay

A very similar xian excavated in 1972 from a Western Zhou tomb in Liujiacun, Fufeng county, Shaanxi province, is illustrated in Zhongguo Qingtongqi Quanji - 5 - Xi Zhou (1), Beijing, 1996, p. 43, no. 46. Also illustrated, p. 42, no. 45, is another similar xian excavated in 1974 in Yangjiabao, Fufeng county, Shaanxi province, which has a similar taotie band cast in intaglio below the mouth rim, but lacks the cast designs accentuating the features of the bovine masks set atop each leg, such as those seen on the present xian and the other aforementioned example from Liujiacun.

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