SHANG DYNASTY

Details

An archaic bronze wine vessel, gu
Shang Dynasty
Of typical waisted cylindrical form, the central section and spreading circular base each cast with a pair of taotie masks divided by four equidistant vertical flanges, the trumpet-shaped neck with four leiwen ground blades rising from a band of S-shaped confronting serpents, minor damage
31.8 cm. high

Special notice

Christie's charges a Buyer's premium calculated at 23.205% of the hammer price for each lot with a value up to €110,000. If the hammer price of a lot exceeds €110,000 then the premium for the lot is calculated at 23.205% of the first €110,000 plus 11.9% of any amount in excess of €110,000. Buyer's Premium is calculated on this basis for each lot individually.

Lot Essay

Gu, which were ritual vessels used for wine, are one of the most recognizable of bronze forms of the Shang dynasty. The vessels date to as early as the Erlitou period, circa 2000 to 1500 BC, at which time they were a simple slender beaker, and eventually evolved into the elegant trumpet-mouthed vessel of the late Anyang period of the 12th - 11th century BC date. This ritual wine beaker is associated with the 'mature' type of gu from Anyang (late 13th to early 12th Century BC), which exhibit the same distinctive structure with the same decorative sequence of motifs. A similar is example is included Ritual and Reverance, The University of Chicago, 1989, p. 46, no. 15; another related group from the Arthur M. Sackler Collection, is illustrated by Robert W. Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes, pp. 239-247, nos. 32-35.

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