A RARE ARCHAIC BRONZE WINE VESSEL AND COVER, guang, of oval cross-section with a deep spout, set on a sloping pierced ring foot, the loop handle cast on one side, surmounted by an animal head, the lid cast with a large horned monster head at one end in relief along the top of the cover, the interior with a two-character inscription, the bronze with a rich green patina and areas of red cuprite, malachite, and azurite encrustations, Shang Dynasty

Details

A RARE ARCHAIC BRONZE WINE VESSEL AND COVER, guang, of oval cross-section with a deep spout, set on a sloping pierced ring foot, the loop handle cast on one side, surmounted by an animal head, the lid cast with a large horned monster head at one end in relief along the top of the cover, the interior with a two-character inscription, the bronze with a rich green patina and areas of red cuprite, malachite, and azurite encrustations, Shang Dynasty
18cm. high

Provenance

A.E.K. and James K. Cull

Literature

Yetts, The Cull Chinese Bronzes, 1939, No.9, Pl.XIII; Karlgren, New Studies on Chinese Bronzes, bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, No.9, 1937,

Lot Essay

The inscription is recorded in Barnard and Cheung, Rubbings and Hand Copies of Bronze Inscriptions in Chinese, Japanese, European, American and Australian Collections, 1978, and in Guwen Zilei Pian, 1980, P.617, compare also and archaic bronze tripod, ding, with a similar inscription sold in London, 11 December, 1984, Lot 16

A similar vessel is illustrated by Wang Fu and others, Xuanhe Bogu Tulu, the illustrated catalogue of the Song Imperial Collection, circa 1125, first known edition 1308-1311, 25, XX 28. Other similar vessels but with inlaid turquoise lids are illustrated by Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, 1987, P.134, Fig.208; and by Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol.IIB, P.704, Fig.1181, from the Ernest Erickson Collection

One of the few plain archaic vessel types of the period, this piece is a very important example of the transition from late Shang to early Zhou Dynasty art; showing the transformation of the horned dragon image to a more deer-like representation

Compare also a later Western Zhou vessel illustrated by Rawson, op.cit., vol.IIB, P.707, Fig.118.5

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