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Lot Essay
The lengthy inscription cast in the interior of the vessel reads, Wei wang chu fu yu Cheng Zhou, Wang ming Yu ning Deng bo, bin bei yong zuo fu bao zun yi, which may be translated as, 'King is holding ritual ceremonies at Cheng Zhou, King ordered Yu to placate the Count of the Kingdom of Deng, who gifted Yu shells to cast this precious vessel for his father'. Yu is the surname of a Western Zhou noble and military commander under King Kan (1020-996 BC). An inscription on a famous large ding in the National Musem of China also records an incident where Kong Kan bestowed gifts upon Yu.
It is very rare to find a jue cast with two registers of taotie masks. Compare two other jue with similar arrangement of decoration, the first illustrated in Shang Ritual Bronzes in the National Palace Museum Collection, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1998, pp. 144-5, no. 7, and the second illustrated by S.D. Owyoung in Ancient Chinese Bronzes in the St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, 1997, no. 22.
It is very rare to find a jue cast with two registers of taotie masks. Compare two other jue with similar arrangement of decoration, the first illustrated in Shang Ritual Bronzes in the National Palace Museum Collection, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1998, pp. 144-5, no. 7, and the second illustrated by S.D. Owyoung in Ancient Chinese Bronzes in the St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, 1997, no. 22.