Page 190 - Chinese Works of Art Chritie's Mar. 22-23 2018
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A RARE PAIR OF BRONZE RITUAL TRIPOD WINE VESSELS, MU NING RI XIN JIAO
LATE SHANG DYNASTY, 11TH CENTURY BC
The body is raised on three tall, curved blade-form legs and cast in relief with two taotie masks, one divided
by the loop handle and the other divided by a narrow vertical fange, all beneath a band of upright blades at
the fared mouth and reserved on a leiwen ground. A four-character inscription, mu ning ri xin, is cast on an
interior wall, and the surface has a greenish patina and some malachite encrustation overall.
6¬ in. and 6Ω in. (16.7 cm. and 16.5 cm.) high
(2)
$80,000-120,000
PROVENANCE
The Mengdiexuan Collection, Hong Kong, acquired prior to 1990.
EXHIBITED
Hong Kong, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes,
12 October - 2 December 1990.
Hong Kong, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Wood, Metal, Water, Fire and Earth,
8 January 2002-30 August 2006.
Hong Kong, Art Museum, Chinese University of Hong Kong, The First Dragon of China: Hong Kong’s
Dragon Culture, 10 February 2012-27 January 2013.
LITERATURE
J. Rawson and E. Bunker, Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1990, p. 116, no. 29 (part).
商晚期 青銅母嬣日辛角一對
(inscriptions)
188