AN INSCRIBED BRONZE TRIPOD RITUAL VESSEL, JUE China, Shang dynasty...

AN INSCRIBED BRONZE TRIPOD RITUAL VESSEL, JUE
China, Shang dynasty

Supported by three high legs tapered towards the bottom and slightly curved, the container with a wide mouth, on the edge two mushroom-shaped pinnacles, on a side of the body an ear-shaped handle which two incised characters.

20,5 cm high

Provenance: Fabrizio Savi collection, acquired from a private collector in Bruxelles between 1995 and 2000.
The oldest jue ewers usually look like this without the decoration that usually characterizes the most recent pieces of the Shang dynasty. It is not uncommon for the inscription to be engraved on the body at the height of the handle: it usually refers to the name of the owner of the object.