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Lot Essay
This rare vessel is raised on three tapering, hollow supports positioned beneath each lobe. The lower body is cast in thread relief with a double zigzag band, and a band of taotie is cast below the flared rim from which rises a pair of bail handles.
In the early Shang dynasty, the lower body of the li vessel featured deeper lobes unified with the neck, but by the mid-Shang dynasty, li such as the present example were designed with greater separation between the body and the neck and had shallower lobes.
Two similar li, also decorated with a band of taotie, have been published. The first was found at Liulige, Huixian, Henan Province, no. 110 burial, and is illustrated in Zhongguo Shehui Kexueyuan Kaogu Yanjiusuo ed., Huixian fajue baogao [Report on Excavations in Huixian], Beijing, 1956, p. 23; and the second was found at Lijiazui in Panlongcheng, Huangpi, Hubei Province, no. 2 burial (see Hubei Sheng Wenwu Kaogu Yanjiusuo ed., Panlongcheng: 1963-1994 nian Kaogu Fajue Baogao [The Panlongcheng Site: Report of Archaeological Excavation from 1963 to 1994], vol. 1, Beijing, 2001, p. 172, fig. 114). The band of taotie on the Shouyang Studio li is stylized slightly differently, and the walls of the current vessel are notably thicker than those examples.
See, also, a li dated to the early Shang dynasty, of similar proportions but raised on slightly shorter legs and with narrow bands of circles flanking the geometric band beneath the rim, from Famen City, Fufeng County, Shaanxi Province, illustrated in Wu Zhefu, Zhonghua wu qian nian wen wu ji kan. Qing tong qi pian, Li Vessels, vol. 5, Taipei, 1990, p. 75, no. 19. Also illustrated, p. 73, no. 15, is another related li of early Shang date, but lacking the double zigzag band on the lower body, from Wangjinglou, Xinzheng County, Henan Province.
In the early Shang dynasty, the lower body of the li vessel featured deeper lobes unified with the neck, but by the mid-Shang dynasty, li such as the present example were designed with greater separation between the body and the neck and had shallower lobes.
Two similar li, also decorated with a band of taotie, have been published. The first was found at Liulige, Huixian, Henan Province, no. 110 burial, and is illustrated in Zhongguo Shehui Kexueyuan Kaogu Yanjiusuo ed., Huixian fajue baogao [Report on Excavations in Huixian], Beijing, 1956, p. 23; and the second was found at Lijiazui in Panlongcheng, Huangpi, Hubei Province, no. 2 burial (see Hubei Sheng Wenwu Kaogu Yanjiusuo ed., Panlongcheng: 1963-1994 nian Kaogu Fajue Baogao [The Panlongcheng Site: Report of Archaeological Excavation from 1963 to 1994], vol. 1, Beijing, 2001, p. 172, fig. 114). The band of taotie on the Shouyang Studio li is stylized slightly differently, and the walls of the current vessel are notably thicker than those examples.
See, also, a li dated to the early Shang dynasty, of similar proportions but raised on slightly shorter legs and with narrow bands of circles flanking the geometric band beneath the rim, from Famen City, Fufeng County, Shaanxi Province, illustrated in Wu Zhefu, Zhonghua wu qian nian wen wu ji kan. Qing tong qi pian, Li Vessels, vol. 5, Taipei, 1990, p. 75, no. 19. Also illustrated, p. 73, no. 15, is another related li of early Shang date, but lacking the double zigzag band on the lower body, from Wangjinglou, Xinzheng County, Henan Province.