SPRING AND AUTUMN PERIOD (770-476 BC)

細節

A FINE BRONZE TRIPOD VESSEL AND COVER, LIDING
Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC)
Of compressed spherical shape, raised on three short waisted circular legs, the rim with two crisply cast taotie handles suspending loose rings, the cover with three recumbent bovines cast in the round, surrounding a simple loose-ring finial, the cover and vessel decorated with bands of recessed-relief interlocking spirals, the bronze with a rich variagated malachite, lapis and copper-red patina, short cover rim crack
6 7/8 in. (17.4 cm.) diam.

注意事項

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

拍品專文

Jenny So noted in Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes, from The Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Vol. 3, New York, 1995, p.156, that vessels of this sparsely decorated type have been unearthed in excavations in Shanxi and Henan. One of the ding is reported to have its legs cast hollow, like that of a li, and the legs filled in afterwards. The example in the Kaogu Xuebao, 1984-4, pp.507-508, excavated in the Changzi county, Shanxi, is very similar to the present example in that it also has bands of decoration around the cover and the body, three buffaloes on the cover, and loose ring handles on the cover and two sides of the body. The taotie masks on either side of the body are also very similarly cast. The present lot, however, does not have the raised band under the masks, and the motif on the band decoration is also different.

Compare also the example excavated in Taiyuan, Shanxi, illustrated in Wenwu, 1989-9, pp.64 and 66, which has more elaborate designs on the body and a raised band under the masks.