EARLY WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, 11TH-10TH CENTURY BC

Details

A BRONZE RITUAL FOOD VESSEL, GUI
EARLY WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, 11TH-10TH CENTURY BC
The sides are cast with vertical ribbing between an upper band of taotie on leiwen ground, centered on each side by an animal mask, and a band of taotie dragons above the foot. The C-shape handles emerge from horned animal masks and terminate in pendent rectangular tabs cast with stylized scrolls. The patina is greyish-green with areas of malachite encrustation to the surface.
9 1/4 in. (23.5 cm.) across handles

Provenance

Sotheby's London, 18 December 1967, lot 103.
The Michael Michaels Collection of Early Chinese Art.
Christie’s London, 7 November 2017, lot 176.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Rufus Chen (陳嘉安) Head of Sale, AVP, Specialist

asianartny@christies.com +1 212 636 2180

Lot Essay

Compare the similar early Western Zhou gui sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 7 July 2003, lot 616. Another gui with similar decoration, but with different animal heads surmounting the handles, is illustrated by Y. Mino and J. Robinson, Beauty and Tranquility: The Eli Lilly Collection of Chinese Art, Indianapolis Museum of Art, 1983, pp. 112-13, pl. 31, where fig. B illustrates another example found in 1973 in Baofengxian, Henan province, and now in the Luoyang Museum.

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