AN ARCHAIC BRONZE WINE VESSEL, Gu Late Shang/Early Western Zhou, 13th-11th centuries BCE

AN ARCHAIC BRONZE WINE VESSEL, Gu
Late Shang/Early Western Zhou, 13th-11th centuries BCE
The lower body and central drum-shaped section are brilliantly and finely cast with a tight leiwen ground with occasional small bosses indicating taotie and simplified dragon motives, these two sections are divided by a thin band pierced with cross designs and two bow-string bands and a widely flaring neck, a two-character pictogram cast in relief reading xiong li, to the foot interior.
10in (25.4cm) high
Footnotes:
商晚期/西周早期 公元前十三至十一世紀 青銅觚

Provenance:
J.J. Lally & Co., New York

來源:
紐約藍理捷藝廊

The gu was a ritual wine vessel developed in the Zhengzhou period (16th-14th century BCE). Earlier versions are squatter and more simply decorated. This gu is a particularly elegant example of a classic late Shang design with many comparable types from Anyang, see Li Chi and Wan Chia-pao, Studies of the Bronze Ku-Beaker (Archaeologia Sinica, n.s., no. 1), Nankang, Taiwan, 1964, pl. XXXII and XXXIII.

A gu from the Museum Rietberg, Zurich, of very similar elegant profile with a slender drum-shaped central section and a dense but very shallow-relief design that form taotie, is illustrated by Christian Deydier, Les Bronzes Archaiques Chinois, Archaic Chinese Bronzes, I, Xia & Shang, Paris, 1995, p. 226, no. 2.

For a similar bronze libation vessel, gu, dated to the Shang dynasty, Anyang, circa 13th Century BCE, see J.J. Lally & Co., Oriental Art, Archaic Chinese Bronzes, Jades and and Works of Art,, June 1994, New York, 1994, no. 45, it has the addition of blades to the trumpet neck but otherwise shares many similarities.
Condition Report: PLEASE NOTE: This report describes, but may not be limited to, major condition issues for the lot. A magnificent example of Shang casting at its finest. The decoration on the central and lower section is extraordinarily finely detailed. The bow-string bands, and the foot and rim edges are finely and sharply defined as is the two-character pictogram and internal ribs on the foot interior. The bronze has a most attractive reflective silvery finish which is further enhanced by thin layer of malachite, azurite and earth encrustation on parts of the surface. Highly recommended.