Page 46 - Christie's IMPORTANT CHINESE Ceramics and Works of Art may 28 2021 hk

2921 Continued

It is interesting to note the depth of the casting with three differentiated
layers in relief: the leiwen ground, the taotie masks and the upturned
corners of the motifs. The intricate portrayal of the kui dragons is
closely related to those traditionally categorised as style V of the Shang
dynasty. This type of dragons is comparable to those on the upper
and lower bands of a Yu vessel, formerly from the Alfred F. Pillsbury
Collection, now in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and illustrated by M.
Loehr, Ritual Vessels of Bronze Age China, Asia House Gallery, 1968, p.
89, no. 36. Compare an example with a similar two-register decoration
in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, illustrated by R. Bagley, Shang
Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Washington D.C.,
1987, fig. 86.2, where the author mentions another example excavated
from Luosha Mangzhang, Henan province, illustrated in Zhongyuan
wenwu, 1981.4, pl. 1:2.
Compare also a slightly smaller but equally powerfully cast ding in the
collection of the Shanghai Museum and illustrated in Ancient Chinese
Bronzes in the Collection of the Shanghai Museum, Hong Kong , 1983,
p. 46, pl. 5.

本拍品紋飾層次深淺分明，雷紋為地，附以主紋飾，再以扉棱突出，極
具立體及設計感。其夔龍紋飾風格與原 Alfred F Phillsbury 珍藏，現明尼
阿波利斯美術館藏一件青銅盂極為相近，見 Loehr 著《Ritual Vessels of
Bronze Age China》，紐約，1968 年，89 頁，圖版 36 號。比較上海博
物館藏一件略小的鼎，著錄於《上海博物館珍藏中國青銅器》，香港，
1983 年，46 頁，圖版 5 號。

44