Page 195 - Deydier VOL.2 Meiyintang Collection of Chinese Bronses

197. Ritual bronze pouring vessel yi
Eastern Zhou dynasty, Spring and Autumn period, circa 8 - 5 centuries bc.
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東周春秋時期青銅匜
Height: 15.8 cm

A pouring vessel yi with a shallow, rounded body, Provenance:
supported by three cabriole legs topped by dragon heads ▪ J.T. Tai Collection, New York, U.S.A..
in the round. The upper section of the vessel’s bulbous ▪ Sotheby’s, New York, 1 - 2 June, 1977.
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body extends outwards on one of its sides to form a ▪ Sotheby’s, New York, 22 March, 2011.
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wide spout in the shape of an animal’s head with round, ▪ Galerie Christian Deydier, Paris, France.
bulging eyes, short, erect, pointed ears and a wide open,
fanged mouth. A handle in the shape of a dragon with a Exhibited:
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curling body, deeply set, alert eyes, small perked ears and ▪ Sotheby’s, New York, 1 - 2 June, 1977, catalogue
an open mouth emerges from the back side of the vessel. no. 327.
▪ Sotheby’s, New York, 22 March, 2011, catalogue
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The vessel has a light green and grey patina. no. 188.
▪ Trésors de la Chine ancienne, Bronzes Rituels De La
Collection Meiyintang, Musée des arts asiatiques
Guimet, Paris 13 mars - 10 juin 2013, catalogue no. 77.
Published:
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▪ Sotheby’s, New York, 1 - 2 June, 1977, catalogue
no. 327.
▪ Sotheby’s, New York, 22 March, 2011, catalogue
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no. 188.
▪ Guimet, Musée des arts asiatiques, Trésors de la
Chine ancienne, Bronzes Rituels De La Collection
Meiyintang, Paris 2013, p. 124 - 125, no. 77.
Similar examples:
▪ A similar yi, but with a different handle and a quite
different animal-headed spout, now in the Brundage
Collection, The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, is
illustrated by Lefebvre d’Argencé R.Y. , Bronze Vessels
of Ancient China in the Avery Brundage Collection,
San Francisco 1977, p. 114 - 115, no. B60 B957; and by
So J., Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M.
Sackler Collections, Vol. III, Washington 1995, p. 347,
fig. 69.4.
▪ Another pouring vessel yi with the same type of
dragon-shaped handle, but with its spout cast in the
form of a bird’s head, was excavated in Beichengzi,
Tang Xian, Hebei province and is published in Hebei
Sheng Chutu Wenwu Xuanji, Beijing 1980, no. 164;
and by So J., Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the
Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Vol. III, Washington
1995, p. 347, fig. 69.5.

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