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Lot Essay
The graph on the interior of both foot shows a human figure in profile, with prominent foot and hand reaching towards an implement, possibly a baton. The figure in profile may represent fu (father), and the implement he reaches for may identify his family name.
These pairs of finely cast gu are associated with the angular and precise style from the latter part of Anyang period, which all exhibit the same distinctive structure and the same decorative sequence of motifs.
A bronze gu with very similar cast decoration, but incorporating inverted taotie masks set within the blades on the neck, are illustrated by R.W. Bagley in Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, 1987, pp. 255, nos. 38. Compare to another similar pair of bronze gu from the Arthur M Sackler Collections, sold at Christie's New York, 14 September 2009, lot 5.
These pairs of finely cast gu are associated with the angular and precise style from the latter part of Anyang period, which all exhibit the same distinctive structure and the same decorative sequence of motifs.
A bronze gu with very similar cast decoration, but incorporating inverted taotie masks set within the blades on the neck, are illustrated by R.W. Bagley in Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, 1987, pp. 255, nos. 38. Compare to another similar pair of bronze gu from the Arthur M Sackler Collections, sold at Christie's New York, 14 September 2009, lot 5.