A RARE BRONZE RITUAL FOOD VESSEL, GUI

LATE SHANG DYNASTY, 11TH CENTURY BC

Details

A RARE BRONZE RITUAL FOOD VESSEL, GUI
LATE SHANG DYNASTY, 11TH CENTURY BC
The deep sides crisply cast in intaglio with a wide band incorporating two large taotie masks with large oblong eyes and feathered quills rising in front of the coiled tail, each centered on a plain narrow flange, with a similar band on the foot, and an upper band cast in relief on each side with an animal mask centering a repeating design of alternating kui dragons and whorl roundels, the pair of handles cast with detached hooked scrolls and surmounted by animal masks, the base of the interior cast with a single character, lei, with mottled grey and milky-green patina
5¾ in. (14.6 cm.) high, 11 in. (28 cm.) across handles

Provenance

C.T. Loo & Co.
J.T. Tai & Co., New York.
Walter Hochstadter.
Dr. Eric Vio Collection.
Property of a European Collector; Christie's, New York, 23 June 1983, lot 44.
Eskenazi Ltd., London, 14 June 1984.

Literature

Luo Zhenyu, Yin wen cun, 1917, 1.14.6.
Liu Tizhi, Xiaojiao Jingge jinwen taben, 1935, 7.3.5.
Luo Zhenyu, Sandai jijin wen cun, 1937, 6.3.3.
Karlgren, "Marginalia on Some Bronze Albums", BMFEA 31, 1959, no. 326 and pl. 9b.
Shirakawa, Kimbunshu, 1963, vol. 1, no. 30.
Chen Mengjia, Yin Zhou qingtongqi fenlei tulu, 1977, A158, R236.
Zhou Fagao, Sandai jijin wencun zhulu biao, 1977, no. 1167.
Sun Zhichu, Jinwen zhulu jianmu, 1981, no. 1539.
Hayashi, In Shu jidai seidoki soran ichi, vol. 2, 1984, pl. 139, no. 23.
Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, 1990, vol. IIB, p. 399, fig. 46.2.
Wang Tao and Liu Yu, Selections of Early Chinese Bronzes, 2007, p. 68.

Exhibited

Weltkunst Aus Privatbesitz, Cologne Museum of Art, 1968, no. C53.
Arts from the Scholar's Studio, Hong Kong, 1986, no. 171.
Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1990, no. 25.
The Glorious Traditions of Chinese Bronzes, Singapore, 2000, no. 10.
Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 2002-2006.

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Lot Essay

The single graph, a hand-held plough, is believed to be the complex form of the character, "lei", which means hand-held plough, and may designate a Shang dynasty clan.
The shape and decoration of this gui are very similar to those of the Geng Shi Ma gui excavated from a late Shang tomb at Anyang, Xiaotun, illustrated in Yinxu qingtongqi, Beijing, 1985, introduction fig. 15. The style of decoration on both of these vessels appears to be based on earlier Erligang designs, indicating not just a continuation, but also a revival of earlier Shang design motifs during the late Shang period.

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