A SMALL BRONZE TRIPOD VESSEL AND COVER, DING

LATE SPRING AND AUTUMN PERIOD, 5TH CENTURY BC

Details

A SMALL BRONZE TRIPOD VESSEL AND COVER, DING
LATE SPRING AND AUTUMN PERIOD, 5TH CENTURY BC
The compressed globular body raised on three squat supports and encircled by floral medallions between narrow bands of interlaced serpent-like dragons, applied with a pair of animal-mask and loose ring handles, the domed cover similarly decorated and applied with three recumbent bovines that function as supports when the cover is inverted, with some malachite encrustation; together with a small silver-inlaid gilt-bronze vase, hu, late 4th-early 3rd century BC, the pear-shaped body and neck decorated with bands of swirling scrolls separated by raised bands and with two animal-mask and loose ring handles, with some malachite encrustation
Ding 7 in. (18 cm.) across; hu 5¼ in. (13 cm.) high (2)

Lot Essay

A similar ding from Shanxi Changzhi Fenshuiling is illustrated in a line drawing and rubbing by J. So, Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, 1995, p. 156, fig. 19.1. A silver-inlaid hu similar to the present example in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections is also illustrated by J. So, pp. 264-5, no. 46. The author compares the scroll pattern on the hu with that of contemporary designs in painted lacquer found on wood boxes and other vessels.

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