AN ARCHAIC BRONZE FOOD VESSEL, YU

LATE SHANG DYNASTY

Details

AN ARCHAIC BRONZE FOOD VESSEL, YU
Late Shang Dynasty
The bulging lower body flat-cast with three pairs of dragons with raised eyes confronted on a notched flange to form a large taotie mask, each flange positioned below a small animal mask flanked by pairs of dragons forming a band above, bordered by a band of triangular scroll-filled blades, the whole raised on a pedestal base decorated with three pairs of addorsed, long-tailed birds, their crested heads turned backwards from the dividing flange, with a two-character inscription on the interior, with mottled milky green and gray patina and some encrustation on the interior
7in. (19.5cm.) diam.

Lot Essay

Compare a handleless yu with similar decoration and flanges at the lower body and foot, but without the band of triangular scroll-filled blades below the rim, in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated by Ma Chengyuan, Ancient Chinese Bronzes, Oxford, 1986, p. 26. Other yu with similar decoration, including the band of triangular scroll-filled blades, but with flanges that divide the entire height of the vessel, are in the Freer Gallery of Art, illustrated by Ackerman, Ritual Bronzes of Ancient China, New York, 1945, pl. 34; and another from The Mount Trust, is illustrated by Watson, Ancient Chinese Bronzes, London, 1962, pl. 4a

A metal corrosion analysis by Conservation and Technical Services Ltd., University of London, is consistent with the dating of this lot