Page 10 - Bonhams Fine Chinese Art November 2018

(pictogram)

101
AN ARCHAIC BRONZE RITUAL WINE VESSEL, GU
Shang Dynasty, 13th-11th century BC
Of slender form rising to an elegantly flared trumpet neck, cast on the
mid-section with a pair of taotie masks detailed with raised eyes and
divided by notched flanges, the gently splayed foot decorated with
four stylised dragons reserved on a leiwen ground, all beneath two
bowstrings, the interior foot with a pictograph reading ‘Wei’.
27cm (10 5/8in) high.

£12,000 - 15,000
CNY110,000 - 140,000

商（公元前十三至十一世紀） 青銅饕餮紋觚

Provenance: a Japanese private collection, prior to the 1980s

來源： 1980年代前由日本私人藏家收藏

Bronze gu were among the most important vessels used in state
rituals during the late Shang dynasty. Similar archaic gu vessels,
Shang dynasty, are illustrated by R.W.Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes in
the Arthur M.Sackler Collections, Cambridge MA, 1987, pp.216-227.

Compare with a related archaic bronze ritual wine vessel, gu, late
Shang dynasty, which was sold at Sotheby’s London, 9 November
2016, lot 106.

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
8 | BONHAMS please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.