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Lot Essay
The bovine pictograph cast inside the vessel and cover of this you is similar to one found on a bronze ding in the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Hayashi Minao illustrates both the ding, which he dates to the early Western Zhou period, and rubbings of the bovine graphs in the vessel and cover, In Shu jijai seidoki no kenkyu (In shu seidoki soran ichi), Tokyo, 1984, p. 14, no. 161. Luo Zhenyu (1866-1940) also includes rubbings of the bovine graphs in the ding in his Sandai jijin wencun, 1937, juan 2, 2:7-8.
The you was one of the most important wine vessels of the late Shang/early Western Zhou period. Along with other bronze vessels made for holding food and wine at the banquets of the upper echelons of society, it was part of the important ritual paraphernalia used during these banquets.
This elegantly-proportioned you like others of late Shang/early Western Zhou date is of oval section and has a low, swelling shape. As with others the main decorative motif is a large taotie mask which fills the swelling shape of the body, while narrow decorative bands are on the foot, neck and side of the cover. The shape of the vessel is also emphasized by the flanges that bisect and separate the various decorative elements.
Although many of these you share the same profile and arrangement of decoration and often the same type of motifs, the details of the motifs themselves differ. Compare the you of the same type as the present vessel dated Western Zhou dynasty (10th century BC) in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections illustrated by T. Lawton, et al., The Inaugural Gift: Asian Art in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington DC, 1987, no. 131. The vessel appears to have a broader body and rather than the dragon bands on the present you, the Sackler you has bands of plumed birds, and the handle has animal-mask terminals rather than bottle-horn dragon heads. Another you of this type included in the exhibition, Treasures of Asian Art from the Idemitsu Collection, Seattle Art Museum, 1981, dated to the Shang dynasty, late Anyang period (12th-11th century BC) also appears to be a little broader in form, but has similar dragon-head terminals on the handle and narrow dragon bands, although the dragons themselves are of a different type - short-bodied and facing forward. The you in The Saint Louis Art Museum dated to the Shang dynasty (12th century BC) illustrated by S. D. Owyoung, Ancient Chinese Bronzes in the Saint Louis Art Museum, 1997, no. 7, is also of the same type, but the handle is attached on the broad sides of the vessel, as opposed to the narrow sides, so that the taotie masks are centered below the bottle-head dragon terminals of the handle. Once again the dragons in the narrow bands are of a different type.
See, also, the example excavated in 1999 from the early Western Zhou tombs at Waliu Village near Zhengzhou, Henan province, illustrated in Wenwu, 2001:6, p. 36. On the excavated example the flanges are notched, and rather than taotie masks the body is decorated with large birds with reversed heads.
The present you and the examples cited, as well as others that share the same body shape and style of decoration, seem to form a category that falls between the rather austere types of you exemplified by a you (11th century BC) illustrated by R. W. Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, 1987, pp. 388-9, no. 68, and the highly ornate examples with decoration cast in very high relief, such as the you dated to early Western Zhou (11th century BC) illustrated in Masterpieces of Chinese and Japanese Art: Freer Gallery of Art Handbook, Washington DC, 1976, p. 14 (top).
The you was one of the most important wine vessels of the late Shang/early Western Zhou period. Along with other bronze vessels made for holding food and wine at the banquets of the upper echelons of society, it was part of the important ritual paraphernalia used during these banquets.
This elegantly-proportioned you like others of late Shang/early Western Zhou date is of oval section and has a low, swelling shape. As with others the main decorative motif is a large taotie mask which fills the swelling shape of the body, while narrow decorative bands are on the foot, neck and side of the cover. The shape of the vessel is also emphasized by the flanges that bisect and separate the various decorative elements.
Although many of these you share the same profile and arrangement of decoration and often the same type of motifs, the details of the motifs themselves differ. Compare the you of the same type as the present vessel dated Western Zhou dynasty (10th century BC) in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections illustrated by T. Lawton, et al., The Inaugural Gift: Asian Art in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington DC, 1987, no. 131. The vessel appears to have a broader body and rather than the dragon bands on the present you, the Sackler you has bands of plumed birds, and the handle has animal-mask terminals rather than bottle-horn dragon heads. Another you of this type included in the exhibition, Treasures of Asian Art from the Idemitsu Collection, Seattle Art Museum, 1981, dated to the Shang dynasty, late Anyang period (12th-11th century BC) also appears to be a little broader in form, but has similar dragon-head terminals on the handle and narrow dragon bands, although the dragons themselves are of a different type - short-bodied and facing forward. The you in The Saint Louis Art Museum dated to the Shang dynasty (12th century BC) illustrated by S. D. Owyoung, Ancient Chinese Bronzes in the Saint Louis Art Museum, 1997, no. 7, is also of the same type, but the handle is attached on the broad sides of the vessel, as opposed to the narrow sides, so that the taotie masks are centered below the bottle-head dragon terminals of the handle. Once again the dragons in the narrow bands are of a different type.
See, also, the example excavated in 1999 from the early Western Zhou tombs at Waliu Village near Zhengzhou, Henan province, illustrated in Wenwu, 2001:6, p. 36. On the excavated example the flanges are notched, and rather than taotie masks the body is decorated with large birds with reversed heads.
The present you and the examples cited, as well as others that share the same body shape and style of decoration, seem to form a category that falls between the rather austere types of you exemplified by a you (11th century BC) illustrated by R. W. Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, 1987, pp. 388-9, no. 68, and the highly ornate examples with decoration cast in very high relief, such as the you dated to early Western Zhou (11th century BC) illustrated in Masterpieces of Chinese and Japanese Art: Freer Gallery of Art Handbook, Washington DC, 1976, p. 14 (top).