A COPPER-INLAID BRONZE JAR, HU

EASTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, SPRING AND AUTUMN PERIOD, 6TH-5TH CENTURY BC

Details

A COPPER-INLAID BRONZE JAR, HU
EASTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, SPRING AND AUTUMN PERIOD, 6TH-5TH CENTURY BC
The body divided into four registers decorated in copper inlay in ascending order with striding stags below three rows of dragons with tightly arched bodies, the middle of the three rows with a taotie mask on each side including under the loose rings suspended from the taotie mask handles cast in high relief on the shoulder, the neck encircled by a band of recumbent stags and a band of birds with long crests and tails grasping a snake-like dragon in its claws, all within borders of stretched triangular motifs repeated on the upright foot, the copper inlay now of turquoise color in contrast to the olive-brown patina
15 3/8 in. (39 cm.) high, two Japanese wood boxes

Provenance

Acquired at the Hankyu department store, Osaka, 1960s.

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Lot Essay

A similar hu with cover is illustrated by J. So, Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, 1995, vol. III, no. 44, where the author, p. 257, describes how the motifs "were first cast in copper, then inserted into the mold and held in place with spacers".
See, also, the closely related hu of the same size, sold in these rooms, 21 March 2002, lot 70.

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