A RARE EARLY BRONZE RITUAL TRIPOD WINE VESSEL, JUE

EARLY SHANG DYNASTY, ERLIGANG PERIOD, 16TH-15TH CENTURY BC

Details

A RARE EARLY BRONZE RITUAL TRIPOD WINE VESSEL, JUE
EARLY SHANG DYNASTY, ERLIGANG PERIOD, 16TH-15TH CENTURY BC
Of lenticular section, raised on slender faceted legs, the lower body rounded and with flat bottom, the middle section cast on one side with a taotie mask, the reverse cast with two scrolls flanking the strap handle, with a pair of small thin posts rising from the rim at the back of the long, narrow spout, with grey patina and pale green encrustation
6¼ in. (16 cm.) high

Provenance

T.Y. King & Sons Ltd., Hong Kong, 14 November 1986.

Literature

Chen Wangheng, Chinese Bronzes: Ferocious Beauty, 2001, pl. iv, no. 21a.

Exhibited

Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1990, no. 2.
The Glorious Traditions of Chinese Bronzes, Singapore, 2000, no. 1.
Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 2002-2006.

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Lot Essay

The shape, decoration and construction of this jue is similar to one in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 27 - Bronze Ritual Vessels and Musical Instruments, Hong Kong, 2006, pp. 104-5, no. 66. (Fig. 1) Another similar example is in the Yale University Art Gallery, illustrated by M. Loehr, Ritual Vessels of Bronze Age China, Asia House Gallery, New York, 1968, no. 5. Unlike the small bead-like eyes of the taotie on the present jue and the Beijing Palace example, those on the Yale example are flat and rhomboid in shape. See, also, the similar jue from Zhengzhou Minggonglu M2, illustrated by R. Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, p. 78, fig. 45.

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