Page 91 - Deydier The_Lippens_Collection_of_Ancient_Chinese_Bronzes

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24 – archaic bronze wine vessel bu
SHANG DYNASTY, ANYANG / YINXU PERIOD
TH
TH
TH
CIRCA 14 – 12 / 11 CENTURIES B. C.
H.: 26 CM D.: 34 CM
Globular ritual bronze vessel bu (pou) supported by a high ring foot. The bu’s high circular foot is decorated with stylized kui dragons PROVENANCE
The body is cast with a large taotie mask on a leiwen background. with crested heads turned backwards on a leiwen background.
Each mask is formed of a pair of “large” kui dragons shown in pro- The vessel has a light green patina. – Deydier Ch. / Oriental Bronzes Ltd, London, UK, before 1999. – Other similar bu are published in Hayashi M., In Shu jidai seidoki
file and confronting each other over a vertical flange. Each dragon – Count & Countess Paul Lippens Collection, Brussels, Belgium, 1999. no kenkyu (In Shu seidoki soran ichi) — Conspectus of Yin and
is cast with a bulbous eye, curved horn, a hook-like lower jaw and a Zhou Bronzes — Tokyo 1984, vol. 1, part: plates, p. 312, no. 36
long body ending in a raised curved tail. SIMILAR EXAMPLES and p. 313, nos. 45 and 47.
The bu’s shoulder is cast with a frieze of kui dragons shown in pro- – Another bu is published in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji – 4 –
file, on a leiwen background, confronting each other over a large – A similar bu from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is illustrated Shang, Beijing 1998, p. 102, no. 105.
taotie mask in high relief. The vessel’s neck is decorated with two in Hayashi M., In Shu jidai seidoki no kenkyu (In Shu seidoki soran
horizontal thin lines in high relief. ichi) — Conspectus of Yin and Zhou Bronzes — Tokyo 1984, vol. 1,
part: plates, p. 313, no. 43.

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