A BRONZE RITUAL WINE VESSEL WITH ATTACHED COVER, <I>HU</I> , EARLY EASTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, SPRING AND AUTUMN PERIOD, 6TH CENTURY BC

Sale 2268

Fine Chinese Art from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections

New York

|

18 March 2009

Browse Sale

Lot 214

A BRONZE RITUAL WINE VESSEL WITH ATTACHED COVER, HU

EARLY EASTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, SPRING AND AUTUMN PERIOD, 6TH CENTURY BC

Price realised

USD 9,375

Estimate

USD 6,000 - USD 8,000

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A BRONZE RITUAL WINE VESSEL WITH ATTACHED COVER, HU
EARLY EASTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, SPRING AND AUTUMN PERIOD, 6TH CENTURY BC
The pear-shaped body with a double bow-string band cast mid-body which is interrupted by a ring handle, each of the ring handles on the neck attached to one end of a link chain that passes through a loose ring attached to a small loop terminating in the forequarters of an insect cast in low relief atop the slightly domed cover with fixed ring finial, the other ends of the chains attached to the ring terminals of an arched handle, the whole raised on a shallow inward-curved ring foot, with dark mottled patina and some green encrustation, with a later-added six-character inscription on the interior of the cover
9¾ in. (24.8 cm. ) high

Provenance

J.T. Tai & Co., New York, prior to 1976.
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Literature and exhibited

Literature

Chen Mengjia, Haiwai Zhongguo tongqi tulu (Chinese Bronzes in Foreign Collections, First Series), Beijing, 1946, pl. 57.
J. So, Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, 1995, pp. 268-71, no. 47.

Lot Essay

The six-character inscription, which is later than the vessel, may be read, "Precious vessel made for Zhong Ming Fu".
Compare a similar hu from Shandong Linqu Xian, illustrated by Jenny So, Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, 1995, p. 271, fig. 47.1, which has a lengthy inscription bearing a date corresponding to the 6th century BC.
Recommended features

Lot 214

A BRONZE RITUAL WINE VESSEL WITH ATTACHED COVER, HU

EARLY EASTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, SPRING AND AUTUMN PERIOD, 6TH CENTURY BC

Contact us

Literature and exhibited

Lot Essay

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Lot 214

A BRONZE RITUAL WINE VESSEL WITH ATTACHED COVER, HU

EARLY EASTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, SPRING AND AUTUMN PERIOD, 6TH CENTURY BC

Recommended features

‘It would be highly unlikely that another such piece exists’

Virtual tour: Asian Art Week highlights at Christie’s New York

Collecting Guide: 7 things to know about Chinese traditional painting

Blue notes: A guide to Chinese blue-and-white porcelain

Collecting Guide: 5 things to know about Street Art

One of the most important European royal portraits to come to auction for a generation