Page 4 - 2020 Nov 30 Christie's Hong Kong Scholars Art Of China

2801
AN EXCEPTIONAL AND VERY RARE BRONZE Vessels of this unusual addorsed owl form appear to have been made
RITUAL OWL-FORM WINE VESSEL, XIAO YOU primarily during the Shang dynasty, and are of two different types;
LATE SHANG DYNASTY, 12TH-11TH CENTURY BC those with a dense surface decoration and those of more austere,
simplified design, exemplified by the present magnificent example.
The vessel is well cast in the form of two addorsed owls with
plump bodies raised on four stout legs with splayed feet, and Those of the first, ornate type, densely decorated with fine scale-like
feathers, leiwen grounds and sometimes additional small bird motifs,
the sides are cast in soft relief with simplified wings sweeping are represented by three examples illustrated by R.W. Bagley, Shang
back from the rounded breast to a pair of loops attached to the Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Arthur M. Sackler
rope-twist swing handle. The domed cover is finely cast in crisp Foundation, 1987: one in the Freer Gallery of Art, p. 371, fig. 63.4; one in
relief at each end as the head of an owl with upturned beak, the Sumitomo Collection, Kyoto, p. 115, fig. 154; and in the Fitzwilliam
Museum, Cambridge, p. 371, fig. 63.3. Another example is in the Avery
domed circular eyes with recessed pupils, narrow, feather- Brundage Collection, illustrated by d'Argencé, Ancient Chinese Bronzes,
detailed brows and small ears. Behind each head is a pair of San Francisco, 1966, pl. XVIII (B).
confronted dragons with long snouts that flank the base of the Two other vessels appear to be a bridge between the first and second
finial which is divided into eight cicada segments. The bronze types. The bodies are completely decorated with small scale-like
has a mottled dark grey and brown patina and malachite feathers and leiwen, but the decoration is more flat-cast and the shape
encrustation. of the wings is very similar to those of the second plain group. One
10 in. (25.5 cm.) high with handle, 8 in. (20.3 cm.) across is an example from Zhuzhou, Hunan province, illustrated in Wenwu,
1960:3, p. 29, fig. 2, and the other is in the Winthrop Collection, Harvard
HK$7,000,000-9,000,000 US$910,000-1,200,000 Art Museums, illustrated by R. Bagley, op. cit., p. 115, fig. 153. The beaks
of the former are hooked, while the beaks of the latter are upturned like
that those of the present you, and like the present vessel both have a
PROVENANCE
A Japanese private collection, prior to 1998 rope-twist handle.
Galerie Christian Deydier, Paris
Sold at Christie’s New York, 21-22 March 2013, lot 1220
EXHIBITED
Galerie Christian Deydier, Paris, Biennale des Antiquaires, 2002

晚商 青銅鴞卣

來源
日本私人珍藏，1998年前入藏
戴克成，巴黎
紐約佳士得，2013年3月21-22日，拍品1220號

展覽
戴克成，巴黎，《Biennale des Antiquaires》，2002年

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