Page 172 - Deydier VOL.2 Meiyintang Collection of Chinese Bronses

189. Ritual bronze food vessel li
Early to Middle Western Zhou dynasty, circa 10 century bc.
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西周早中期青銅鬲
Height: 15.8 cm

An archaic bronze food vessel li with a body composed Provenance:
of three bulbous, elephant-head-like tapering legs which ▪ Armand Trampitsch Collection.
merge at their upper sides and are topped and conjoined ▪ Sze Yuan Tang Collection, (Anthony Hardy Collection),
by a low, flat neck that gradually extends outwards to end Hong Kong.
in a wide, overhanging upper rim that is surmounted on ▪ Christie’s, New York, 16 September, 2010.
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two of its sides by a wide, arched, portal-like handle. Each ▪ Roger Keverne, London, U.K.
of the three sections of the vessel’s body is decorated with
a very simple motif composed of deeply cast, almond- Exhibited:
shaped eyes surmounted simply, but attractively, ▪ Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, Hong Kong
by flappy C-shaped inwardly curling ears. A narrow, Museum of Art, Hong Kong 1990, catalogue no. 30.
bordered frieze of three pairs of protruding, rectangular ▪ The Glorious Traditions of Ancient Bronzes, Asian
eye-shaped bosses, with each pair separated by a vertical Civilizations Museum, Singapore 2000, catalogue
flange, encircles the lower half of the vessel’s neck. no. 27.
▪ Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth, Hong Kong
Some prominent mold marks are visible on the vessel’s Museum of Art, 2002 - 2005, Hong Kong 2004.
stomach.
▪ The Sze Yuan Tang Archaic Bronzes from the Anthony
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The vessel has a black and green patina with areas of Hardy Collection, Christie’s, New York, 16 September,
cuprite incrustations. 2010, catalogue no. 839.
▪ Summer Exhibition 2011, Roger Keverne, London,
catalogue no. 4.
▪ Trésors de la Chine ancienne, Bronzes Rituels De La
Collection Meiyintang, Musée des arts asiatiques
Guimet, Paris 13 mars - 10 juin 2013, catalogue no. 58.
Published:
▪ Rawson J. & Bunker E., Ancient Chinese and Ordos
Bronzes, Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong,
Hong Kong 1990, p. 118 -119, no. 30.
▪ Li Xueqin, The Glorious Traditions of Chinese Bronzes,
Singapore 2000, no. 27. 李學勤《中國青銅器萃賞》新
加坡 2000年版 27號.
▪ Chen Wangheng, Chinese Bronzes: Ferocious Beauty,
Hong Kong 2000, pl. iii, no. 18a. 陳望衡《獰厲之美: 中
國青銅藝術》 香港 2000年版, 圖iii, 18a號.
▪ Christie’s, The Sze Yuan Tang Archaic Bronzes
from the Anthony Hardy Collection, New York, 16
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September, 2010, catalogue no. 839.
▪ Keverne R., Summer Exhibition 2011, London 2011,
no. 4.
▪ The Hong Kong Museum of Art: Metal, Wood, Water,
Fire and Earth, 2002 - 2005, Hong Kong 2004.
▪ Guimet, Musée des arts asiatiques, Trésors de la
Chine ancienne, Bronzes Rituels De La Collection
Meiyintang, Paris 2013, p. 99, no. 58.

Similar examples:
▪ A similar li vessel excavated at Liulihe, Fangshan
district, Beijing, is illustrated by Yao Pinlu and Wang
Yusheng, Album of Select Archaeological Findings: To
the 40 Anniversary of the Founding of the Institute
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of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences,
Beijing 1995, p. 198, no. 1.
▪ Rawson J., Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the
Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Washington 1990,
p. 316 - 319, no. 26.

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