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A VERY RARE INSCRIBED ARCHAIC BRONZE but has large taotie masks on its body and a six-character
RITUAL HANDLED VESSEL (HU) inscription at the bottom. According to Rawson, another
LATE SHANG DYNASTY two-handled example is illustrated in the catalogue of the
Port Arthur Museum, Dalian, Liaoning province (Ryojun
cast to each handle with a one-character inscription reading ya Hakubutsukan zuroku / An Illustrated Catalogue of the
Height 11½ in., 29.3 cm Objects in the Museum at Port Arthur, Tokyo, 1943, pl. 15:3).
For bronze zhi of similar form and decoration but of much
PROVENANCE smaller size and lacking handles, see one preserved
Discovered at Anyang, Henan province, during the Republic in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (accession no.
period (by repute). gu-tong-2047), attributed to the late Shang dynasty (c.
Collection of Huang Jun (1880-1952). 1600-1046 BC), cast with two raised fillets on its neck
Private Collection. and an inscription at the base, illustrated in the Museum’s
Sotheby’s London, 11th December 1984, lot 8. publication Rituals Cast in Brilliance, Chinese Bronzes
J.T. Tai & Co., New York. through the Ages, Taipei, 2015, p. 39.
Sotheby’s New York, 22nd March 2011, lot 45.
⊖ $ 50,000-70,000
LITERATURE
Huang Jun, Yezhong pianyu sanji [Feathers from Yezhong 商末 亞壺
series III], vol. 1, Beijing, 1942, p. 20.
Jessica Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur 銘文：
M. Sackler Collections, vol. IIB, Washington, D.C., 1990, p. 628, 亞
fig. 100.3.
Jia Wenzhong and Jia Shu, ed., Jijin cuiying Jiashi zhencang 來源
qingtongqi laozhaopian [Collection of old photographs of 傳民國時期河南安陽出土
archaic bronzes. Old photographs of archaic bronzes from
the Jia family collection], Beijing, 2016, no. 209. 黃濬（1880-1952）收藏
Wu Zhenfeng, Shangzhou qingtongqi mingwen ji tuxiang 私人收藏
jicheng xubian [Sequel to the compendium of inscriptions 倫敦蘇富比1984年12月11日，編號8
and images of bronzes from the Shang and Zhou dynasties], 戴潤齋，紐約
vol. 3, Shanghai, 2016, no. 0797. 紐約蘇富比2011年3月22日，編號45
This bronze hu, flanked by two large handles decorated
with bovine masks, is unique. The shape of this vessel 出版
resembles a zhi but of much larger size and with the addition 黃濬，《鄴中片羽三集》，卷上，北京，1942年，
of the handles. This bronze form is so exceedingly rare 頁20
that comparable examples are difficult to find. One vessel, 傑西卡•羅森，《Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the
of smaller size and slightly later date, has been published Arthur M. Sackler Collections》，卷IIB，華盛頓，1990
together with the present piece in Jessica Rawson, Western 年，頁628，圖100.3
Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections,
vol. IIB, Washington, D.C., 1990, pl. 100. The Sackler vessel is 賈文忠及賈樹，《吉金萃影•賈氏珍藏青銅器老照
similarly cast with two handles adorned with animal heads, 片》，北京，2016，編號209
吳鎮烽，《商周青銅器銘文暨圖像集成續編》，卷3，
上海，2016年，編號0797

The present lot illustrated in Huang
Jun, Yezhong pianyu sanji [Feathers
from Yezhong series III], vol. 1,
Beijing, 1942, p. 20.
本拍品錄於黃濬，《鄴中片羽三集》，
卷上，北京，1942年，頁20

72 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N10917 73