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Lot Essay
The inscription cast on the interior of the vessel consists of the characters Fu Xin (Father Xin) positioned below a large graph, possibly reading peng, which depicts a man with a pole balanced over his shoulder suspending two pairs of baskets. This same graph appears on an early Western Zhou you sold at Christie's New York, 21 September 2000, lot 158.
The proportions of the present jue are very similar to other jue of early Western Zhou date including the famous pair in the Palace Museum, Beijing, cast with designs of crested birds. One of the pair is illustrated in Two Hundred Selected Masterpieces from the Palace Museum, Beijing, Tokyo National Museum, 2 January - 19 February 2012, no. 49, and again in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 27 - Bronze Ritual Vessels and Musical Instruments, Hong Kong, 2006, p. 150, no. 97. The other jue from this pair is illustrated in Chuka Jinmin Kyowakoku Kodai Seidokiten (Exhibition of Archaic Bronzes from the People's Republic of China), Tokyo and Kyoto, 1976, pl. 39. A third early Western Zhou jue of this type cast around the sides with crested birds was sold at Christie's New York, 13-14 September 2012, lot 1222. Another characteristic these early Western Zhou jue share is the more slender, rounded handle compared to the broader handle of jue from the mid to late Shang period.
Taotie similar to those cast on either side of the present jue, which feature distinctive large horns that curve downwards to flank the mask, can be found on other vessel forms of early Western Zhou date, including a fangding in the Shanghai Museum illustrated in Zhongguo Wenwu jinghua dachuan (Highlights of Chinese Archaeological Objects), Hong Kong, 1994, p. 82, no. 292, and another fangding illustrated by d'Argencé, Ancient Chinese Bronzes in the Avery Brundage Collection, Berkeley, California, 1966, pl. XXIX.
The proportions of the present jue are very similar to other jue of early Western Zhou date including the famous pair in the Palace Museum, Beijing, cast with designs of crested birds. One of the pair is illustrated in Two Hundred Selected Masterpieces from the Palace Museum, Beijing, Tokyo National Museum, 2 January - 19 February 2012, no. 49, and again in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 27 - Bronze Ritual Vessels and Musical Instruments, Hong Kong, 2006, p. 150, no. 97. The other jue from this pair is illustrated in Chuka Jinmin Kyowakoku Kodai Seidokiten (Exhibition of Archaic Bronzes from the People's Republic of China), Tokyo and Kyoto, 1976, pl. 39. A third early Western Zhou jue of this type cast around the sides with crested birds was sold at Christie's New York, 13-14 September 2012, lot 1222. Another characteristic these early Western Zhou jue share is the more slender, rounded handle compared to the broader handle of jue from the mid to late Shang period.
Taotie similar to those cast on either side of the present jue, which feature distinctive large horns that curve downwards to flank the mask, can be found on other vessel forms of early Western Zhou date, including a fangding in the Shanghai Museum illustrated in Zhongguo Wenwu jinghua dachuan (Highlights of Chinese Archaeological Objects), Hong Kong, 1994, p. 82, no. 292, and another fangding illustrated by d'Argencé, Ancient Chinese Bronzes in the Avery Brundage Collection, Berkeley, California, 1966, pl. XXIX.