SHANG DYNASTY, 11TH CENTURY BC

Details

A BRONZE RITUAL WINE VESSEL, GU
SHANG DYNASTY, 11TH CENTURY BC
Of slender proportions, the trumpet-form neck finely cast with leiwen-filled blades rising from a band of small serpents, the middle section cast with two taotie masks centered on and separated by notched flanges repeated on the lower body to divide a band of small dragons and two further taotie masks, all on leiwen grounds, with mottled greyish-green patina
12 7/8 in. (32.6 cm.) high

Lot Essay

Compare the pair of the taller, but quite similar gu illustrated by R. W. Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, Washington, DC, 1987, pp. 254-7, nos. 34 and 35.

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