A FINE ARCHAIC BRONZE WINE VESSEL, GU, of tall slender shape, the central section crisply cast in shallow relief on a leiwen ground with taotie motifs divided by four vertical flanges, above a plain double-ribbed band pierced with two cruciform apertures, the splayed base similarly decorated with a band of leiwen below upright cicada blades rising to the rim, a crisp pictogram inside the foot, the bronze with a pale green patina with areas of malachite encrustation, Shang Dynasty

Details
A FINE ARCHAIC BRONZE WINE VESSEL, GU, of tall slender shape, the central section crisply cast in shallow relief on a leiwen ground with taotie motifs divided by four vertical flanges, above a plain double-ribbed band pierced with two cruciform apertures, the splayed base similarly decorated with a band of leiwen below upright cicada blades rising to the rim, a crisp pictogram inside the foot, the bronze with a pale green patina with areas of malachite encrustation, Shang Dynasty
32.3cm. high

Lot Essay

Similar gu are illustrated by B. Karlgren and J. Wirgin, The National Wessen Collection, col. pl.4 and pl.21; by F.Kelley, Chinese Bronzes from the Buckingham Collection, p.33, pl.XII

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