Page 89 - Sotheby's Arts of Asia Paris, June 16, 2022

86
A RARE AND IMPORTANT ARCHAIC BRONZE 商期 青銅饕餮紋斝
GOBLET, JIA 來源 :
EARLY SHANG DYNASTY 西班牙私人收藏，藏於馬德里家族私宅(Buen Retiro)流傳至今
the tripod goblet with a characteristic trumpet-shaped upper
and rounded lower section with a flat base, decorated with
taotie borders and broad scrolling ribbons standing out
against plain recessed areas, organized as elongated scroll
bands centred on a single eye, confronting each other to
form a double-eyed mask opposite the handle
H. 26.5 cm, 10⅜ in.
PROVENANCE
An old Spanish family collection, the vessel was part of the
furnishing of the family’s Buen Retiro mansion in Madrid.
Rare et important récipient en bronze, Jia, début de la
dynastie Shang, attribué à la période Erligang
40 000-60 000 €

Archaic bronze goblets of this characteristic jia form with Panlongcheng Site. Report of Archaeological Excavation from
trumpet-shaped upper and rounded lower section with a flat 1963 – 1994, Beijing, 2001 includes a number of very similar
base, and with similar taotie borders and whorls, have been jia recovered in and around Panlongcheng, for example, from
recovered from important early Shang sites like that of the Lijiazui, vol. 1, fig. 131: 2, and vol. 2, col. pl. 22: 2 and 4, and pl.
capital city Zhengzhou in Henan and the southerly palace 58: 2; from Wangjiazui, vol. 1, fig. 87 and vol. 2, pl. 36: 3; from
city Panlongcheng in Hubei province, and can be attributed Yangjiawan, vol. 1, fig. 184, and vol. 2, pl. 75: 2; and from the
to the Erligang period. The almost abstract design bands of city site itself, vol. 1, fig. 307, and vol. 2, pl. 136: 3.
this period are characterized by broad scrolling ribbons that A similar jia excavated at Zhengzhou and now in the
clearly stand out against plain recessed areas. On this goblet Zhengzhou Municipal Museum is illustrated in Zhongguo
shape, the setup of the taotie band takes into account the qingtongqi quanji [Complete series on Chinese bronzes],
attached handle on one side and is organized as elongated vol. 1, Beijing, 1996, pls 85 and 86; and again in Henan chutu
scroll bands centred on a single eye, confronting each other Shang Zhou qingtong qi/The Unearthed Bronzes of Shang-
to form a double-eyed mask opposite the handle.
Zhou Dynasty in Henan Province, vol. 1, Beijing, 1981, pl.
Jia of this exact type as well as examples of similar form with 49; another from Huixian, north of Zhengzhou, now in the
slightly different design bands or lacking the whorl motifs Xinxiang Museum, ibid. pl. 116.
have been found in large number at Panlongcheng sites. The A similar piece without whorls, also attributed to the
closest were located in stages 5 and 6, representative of the 15th-14th century BC, is published in Robert W. Bagley,
first and second phase of the Upper Erligang Culture, which Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections,
can be attributed to the late 15th and 14th century BC. Mould Washington, D.C., 1987, no. 2, where it is compared to a jia
fragments found nearby show that the bronzes buried at from Panlongcheng, p. 79, fig. 49, and another in the British
Panlongcheng were also cast there. The excavation report Museum, illustrated fig. 50.
Panlongcheng. 1963 – 1994 nian kaogu fajue baogao/The

86 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/PF2207