Page 69 - March 17, 2020 Impotant Chinese Art, Sotheby's, New York

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A VERY RARE ARCHAIC BRONZE RITUAL Two zun of this type in the National Museum of Asian Art,
WINE VESSEL (ZUN) Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., are illustrated
EARLY WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY in ibid., vol. IIB, pls 85 and 86, the first decorated with two
ram’s heads and illustrated with two further examples, figs
well cast with the bulging central section rising from a 85.1 and 85.2, the second with a plain surface; and two
splayed foot to a trumpet neck with an everted rim, adorned undecorated zun are illustrated in Jung Keng, ‘The Bronzes
simply with three raised plain bands encircling the body, of Shang and Zhou’, Yenching Journal of Chinese Studies,
inscribed to the interior with an eight-character inscription Monograph Series no. 17, 1941, pls 523 and 543, together
reading Xi (possibly) Zhong zuo fu yi bao zun yi, the surface with one with a handle, pl. 532.
with malachite encrustation, Japanese wood boxes (5)
Height 8 in., 20.2 cm $ 80,000-120,000
PROVENANCE
Christie’s Hong Kong, 1st December 2010, lot 3218. 西周初 青銅素帶尊
This lot is accompanied by a certification note written by 銘文：
Zoroku Hata III in 1936. The box is inscribed with a note by
Uzan Nagao (1864-1942) in the same year. 奚 (疑似) 仲作父乙寶尊彝
This vessel is particularly unusual for its minimalist design, 來源
lacking surface decoration except for three raised ribs. Zun
of this type are discussed by Jessica Rawson in Western 香港佳士得2010年12月1日，編號3218
Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections,
Washington D.C., 1990, p. 67, where she notes that plain 附三世藏六丙子年 (1936年) 鑑定書
vessels were recovered in the area of the Xing fief in Yuanshi 日本盒蓋內長尾甲同年題識
county, Hebei province, and are datable to the latter part
of the early Western Zhou period. Richly decorated vessels
were also excavated at this site, suggesting that the two
styles coexisted.

134 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N10644 135