SHANG DYNASTY, 13TH-12TH CENTURY BC

Details

A BRONZE RITUAL WINE VESSEL, GU
SHANG DYNASTY, 13TH-12TH CENTURY BC
The trumpet-shaped neck cast with four scroll-filled blades rising from a narrow band of cicadas, the middle section with two taotie masks and the spreading foot also with two taotie masks below a band of confronted birds, the masks divided and separated by narrow notched flanges, with an inscription on the interior of the foot, with mottled pale green patina and areas of malachite green encrustation
11¼ in. (28.5 cm.) high, Japanese wood box, wood stand

Provenance

Acquired in Japan prior to World War II.

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Lot Essay

The inscription reads Shih, a clan name of the Shang dynasty. The same inscription also appears on a ding dated to the late Shang dynasty, illustrated in A Catalogue of Shang Dynasty Bronze Inscriptions - Ancient Chinese Script From the 1st Millenium B.C., National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1995, pp. 48-9.

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