A BRONZE RITUAL FOOD VESSEL, GUI

A BRONZE RITUAL FOOD VESSEL, GUI
Early Western Zhou dynasty
The bombé-form body cast in low relief with a band of paired stylized dragons, interrupted by opposing small raised animal masks and loop handles surmounted by dragon heads, set between the gently flared mouth and a splayed foot ring cast with a band of similar confronted dragons meeting to form four taotie masks, the central mask on each side bisected by a raised flange, the surfaces with a mottled pale greenish-gray patina and ferrous, azurite and malachite encrustation.
12in (30.5 cm) across handles