EARLY SPRING AND AUTUMN PERIOD, 8TH-7TH CENTURY BC

A li of closely related form and decoration, with an eight-character inscription, was sold at Christie's Paris, 13 December 2017, lot 138. According to the inscription, the Paris li was made in the state of Ni in modern day Shangdong province. Related li of this type, but decorated with dragon patterns, include two examples illustrated in Shang Chou Dynasty Bronze V, Li Vessels, vol. 5, Taipei, 1990, p. 143, no. 155 and p. 144, no. 158, respectively; and a third example from the Sackler Collection sold at Christie's New York, 14 September 2009, lot 13. In discussing the Sackler li, J. So, Eastern Zhou Bronze Ritual Vessels in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Washington D.C, 1995, p. 95, notes that according to the inscription, "the vessel was cast for a member of the Guo ruling family."