Page 132 - 2020 October 8 HK Fine Classical Paintings

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AN ARCHAIC BRONZE WINE VESSEL, GU 商末公元前十二至十一世紀
LATE SHANG DYNASTY, 12TH–11TH CENTURY BC 青銅獸面紋出戟亞牛丁觚
the elegantly curved slender vessel resting on a tall foot- 《亞牛丁觚》銘
ring, crisply cast on the middle and lower sections with fine
zoomorphic masks with prominent eyes, ears, horns centred 來源：
on notched flanges, against a ground of intricate leiwen
spiral, all below the tall trumpet neck decorated with shield 山中商會
blades filled with further masks rising from a band of angular Christian R. Holmes 夫人（1871-1941年）收藏
serpents, the inner foot with an inscription probably reading Ya 紐約蘇富比1963年11月14/15日，編號258
niu ding gu, wood stand and Japanese wood box 繭山龍泉堂，東京
32 cm, 12½ in. 平野古陶軒，東京
PROVENANCE
Yamanaka & Co., Ltd. 出版：
Collection of Mrs Christian R. Holmes (1871-1941). 梅原末治，《歐米蒐儲支那古銅精華》，卷1，大
Sotheby Parke-Bernet, New York, 14th/15th November 1963, 阪，1933年，編號53
lot 258. 《Selected Ancient Chinese Bronzes from the Collection of
Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo. Mrs Christian R. Holmes》，年份不詳
Hirano Kotoken, Tokyo.
巴納及張光裕，《中日歐美澳紐所見所拓所摹金文彙
LITERATURE 編》，卷7，台北，1978年，編號1080
Umehara Sueji, Shina Kodo Seika/Selected Relics of Ancient
Chinese Bronzes from Collections in Europe and America, vol. 1,
Osaka, 1933, cat. no. 53.
Selected Ancient Chinese Bronzes from the Collection of Mrs
Christian R. Holmes, n.d.
Noel Barnard and Cheung Kwong-Yue, Rubbings and Hand
Copies of Bronze Inscriptions in Chinese, Japanese, European,
American, and Australasian Collections, Taipei, 1978, vol. 7,
no. 1080.

HK$ 600,000-800,000
US$ 77,500-104,000

The present gu is notable for its fine casting which creates
an elegant silhouette and with its exquisite ornamentation,
is typical of the final stage of the development in Anyang.
This style is characterised by the high-raised motifs against
the ground patterns. For the most refined examples such as
the present piece, the main taotie masks are further detailed
by intaglios and the background is interspersed with leiwen
spirals.

A closely related gu from the Sackler Collection in the Arthur
M. Sackler Museum, Washington D.C., is discussed and
illustrated in Robert W. Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes in the
Arthur M. Sackler Collection, Washington, D.C., 1987, p. 255,
no. 38; another similar gu vessel, unearthed in 2001 from
Huayuanzhuang village, Anyang city, Henan province is
illustrated in Yinxu xinchutu qingtongqi [Ritual bronzes recently
excavated in Yinxu], Kunming, 2008, p. 152, no. 62; and
another example with a pictogram of the clan li dao from the
collection of H.E. Alexandre J. Argyropoulos, included in Jean-
Pierre Dubosc, Mostra d’Arte Cinese, Venice, 1954, cat. no. 6,
was sold in our New York rooms, 17th September 2013, lot 1.

Mark

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