Page 130 - Sotheby's Junkunc Collection March 2019

128 A RARE BRONZE RITUAL LADLE (DOU)
LATE SHANG DYNASTY
商末 青銅獸面紋枓

the barrel-shaped bowl cast with the deep rounded sides rising from a slightly concave base, the exterior decorated with a
wide band of slender vertical ribs, the short handle gently curved upward, decorated to the top in relief with a beast mask,
detailed with large protruding eyes, leaf-shaped ears, extended snout, and a pair of bovine horns, above a similar mask with
hooked horns, with a hollow interior for attachment to a longer shaft, the surface with patches of malachite encrustation
Length 4¼ in., 10.8 cm

$ 50,000-70,000

PROVENANCE 來源
Howard Hollis & Company, Cleveland, 22nd April 1954. Howard Hollis & Company，克利夫蘭，1954年4月22日
Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978). 史蒂芬•瓊肯三世（1978年逝）收藏

Notable for its well-controlled modeling and refined precision in the design, the present bronze ladle represents an
outstanding example of late Shang bronze workmanship and is the epitome of the luxurious ritual performance
celebrated by the Shang elite class. Bronze ladles were used to bail wine from vessels during ritual ceremonies.
Two forms of bronze ladle are known, dou and shao, which are distinguished by the shape of their handle: dou has
a curved handle, and shao has a straight handle. Dou as a drinking utensil was recorded in early Chinese literature,
such as the Shijing [Classic of Poetry], a compilation of ancient poems dated from early Western Zhou dynasty to
the middle of Spring and Autumn period. In the Shijing, the poem, ‘Reed by the Road’, contains a verse, which can be
translated to ‘the tasty wine shall be bailed with a large dou’. The shape of dou is also referenced in another poem,
‘The Great East’, where it reads ‘the north has the Big Dipper, but unfortunately it can’t be used to bail wine’.

The present dou is remarkable for its elaborate decoration, which further adds to its importance among the
surviving examples. Compare a closely related dou of this type with a long handle, similarly cast with the vertical ribs
around the bowl, but with different creatures on the handle, dating to the Shang dynasty, mid-Anyang period, in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, gifted by Ernest Erickson Foundation in 1985, and published in Maxwell K.
Hearn, Ancient Chinese Art. The Ernest Erickson Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1987, pl. 5.
See also one illustrated in William C. White, Bronze Culture of Ancient China, London, 1956, pl. XIII, D.

本品青銅獸面紋枓造型古樸穩重，設計精準典雅，極能代 本品紋飾精細，更顯貴重。比較一相近例，長柄，杯身
表商末精湛青銅工藝成就，憑古器典雅，可遙想商朝貴族 圍飾凸棱，柄飾獸紋，斷代安陽中期，現藏於紐約大都
儀式奢華。青銅枓乃挹酒器，用於儀式典禮，現知有枓及 會藝術博物館，Ernest Erickson 基金會贈於1985年，
勺兩種，枓曲柄而勺直柄。枓，古籍有載。《詩經》，西 載於 Maxwell K. Hearn，《 Ancient Chinese Art.
周至春秋時代中期古詩集，其中《行葦》（《大雅》-《 The Ernest Erickson Collection in the Metropolitan
生民之什》）曰：「酒醴維醹，酌以大斗。」又有《大 Museum of Art》，紐約，1987年，圖版5。另比一例，
東》（《小雅》-《小旻之什》）曰：「維北有斗，不可 載於 William C. White，《Bronze Culture of Ancient
以挹酒漿。」 China》，倫敦，1956年，圖版XIII, D。

128 JUNKUNC: ARTS OF ANCIENT CHINA