A BRONZE RITUAL WINE VESSEL, GU

SHANG DYNASTY, EARLY ANYANG, 1300-1200 BC

Details

A BRONZE RITUAL WINE VESSEL, GU
SHANG DYNASTY, EARLY ANYANG, 1300-1200 BC
Of slender form, the trumpet-shaped neck cast with four blades of cicada type above a band of 'eye' and scroll motifs, the mid-section with two taotie masks divided and separated by narrow and slightly raised flanges, the flared foot with a band of scrolls around two larger taotie masks, with mottled grey and milky-green patina
10 3/8 in. (26.3 cm.) high

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Lot Essay

Gu were one of the most important ritual vessels used during the Shang dynasty. The vessels date as early as the Erlitou period, circa 2000-1500 BC, and developed into the elegant trumpet-neck vessel of the Anyang period (12th-11th century BC). Compare a more elaborately cast gu with notched flanges and bands of gui dragons from the same period illustrated by Robert W. Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Washington D.C., 1987, pp. 226-227, no. 28.

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