Page 38 - Sotheby's Important Chinese Art, Sept. 21-22, 2-21, NYC

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A RARE ARCHAIC BRONZE RITUAL WINE The present lei belongs to a small group of late Shang
VESSEL (LEI) dynasty bronzes inscribed with the rare clan pictogram
LATE SHANG DYNASTY Xu. For other vessels from the group, see two bronze ding,
each inscribed with a three-character inscription reading
of baluster form, the wide ovoid body rising from a short, Fu Xin Xu, published in The Institute of Archaeology,
slightly splayed foot to a waisted neck encircled by two Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Yin Zhou jinwen
raised fillets, cast around the broad shoulder with a band jicheng [Compendium of Yin and Zhou bronze inscriptions],
enclosing six large ‘whorl’ medallions, interrupted by a pair Beijing, 2007, nos 01635 and 01636; and two bronze ge
of loop handles suspending loose rings, each handle issuing each cast with the Xu pictogram, one from the British
from a bovine mask detailed with protruding eyes, pricked Museum, London, and the other formerly in the collection
ears, and large horns, the lower body set with a further of Qu Mufu (1769-1844), published in Wu Zhenfeng, Shang
loop handle, the interior neck cast with a three-character Zhou qingtongqi mingwen ji tuxiang jicheng [Compendium
inscription reading xu zu geng of inscriptions and images of bronzes from Shang and Zhou
Height 16¾ in., 42.6 cm dynasties], vol. 30, Shanghai, 2012, nos 16038 and 16039.
PROVENANCE $ 60,000-80,000
Private Collection.
Sotheby’s London, 18th November 1998, lot 802.
商末 需祖庚罍
LITERATURE 銘文 ：
Richard A. Pegg and Zhang Lidong, The MacLean Collection: 需祖庚
Chinese Ritual Bronzes, Chicago, 2010, pl. 13.
來源：
Bronze lei of this type cast with inscriptions are rare. See a 私人收藏
related lei, discovered from a late Shang dynasty hoard in
Beidong village, Liaoning province, published in ‘Liaoning 倫敦蘇富比1998年11月18日，編號802
Kazuoxian Beidongcun faxian Yindai qingtongqi [Yin dynasty 出版：
bronze discovered in Beidong village, Kazuo county, Liaoning 彭銳查及張立東，《The MacLean Collection: Chinese
province]’, Kaogu, no. 4, 1973, pl. 7, fig. 1, together with
four others, but without inscription, ibid., pl. 6, fig. 3 and Ritual Bronzes》，芝加哥，2010年，圖版13
pl. 7, figs 2, 3, and 4; one inscribed with two characters,
in the Sumitomo Collection, published in Sen-Oku Hakuko
Kan: Sumitomo Collection [Ancient Art from the Sumitomo
collection], Kyoto, 2002, pl. 115; another in the Shaanxi
Provincial Museum, illustrated in Zhongguo wenwu jinghua
daquan [Compendium of Chinese bronzes], Taipei, 1993,
p. 35, no. 123; a fourth inscribed with six characters,
published in Li Xueqin, Zhongguo meishu quanji. Gongyi
meishu bian 4 Qingtongqi Shang [Complete collection of
Chinese arts. Decorative arts no. 4. Archaic bronzes], vol. 1,
Beijing, 1985, pl. 80; and the Zi Mei lei sold in these rooms,
20th March 2019, lot 660.

34 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N10748 IMPORTANT ARCHAIC BRONZES FROM THE MACLEAN COLLECTION 35