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Most pieces bearing the name Shi Sou (‘Old man Shi’) are bronzes
inlaid with silver wire, dating to the late Ming period. Rose Kerr
argued that ‘Shi Sou may well have been the trade mark adopted by
entrepreneur(s) who co-ordinated the work of a number of outworkers
in the Jiangnan region during the late Ming period, ordering sets
of items as trade demanded’. See R.Kerr, Later Chinese Bronzes,
London, 1990, p.65. The present lot, with its archaic design, would
have perfectly suited the demands of the late Ming literati who yearned
for a return to the ancient golden age of the early Zhou dynasty.
A similar silver-inlaid bronze pouring vessel, with Shi Sou mark, but
dated a little later to 17th/18th century, was sold at Christie’s
Hong Kong, 28 May 2014, lot 3532.
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