Page 42 - March 23, 2022 Sotheby's NYC Fine Chinese Works of Art

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AN ARCHAIC BRONZE RITUAL WINE VESSEL 西周初 青銅饕餮紋尊
(ZUN)
EARLY WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY 來源
Height 10⅛ in., 25.8 cm 滙寶閣古美術，香港，1998年
出版
PROVENANCE
彭銳查及張立東，《The MacLean Collection: Chinese
Wui Po Kok Antique Co, Ltd., Hong Kong, 1998.
Ritual Bronzes》，芝加哥，2010年，圖版23
LITERATURE
Richard A. Pegg and Zhang Lidong, The MacLean Collection:
Chinese Ritual Bronzes, Chicago, 2010, pl. 23.
Lucidly cast with bulging eyes on the taotie masks, this
vessel is distinctive for its ornament executed in high relief.
Tall and cylindrical zun decorated with such motifs follow
in the tradition developed from the Anyang period (c. 1300-
1046 BC). A similar example excavated in Baicaopo, Lingtai,
Gansu province, is illustrated in Zhongguo Qingtongqi Quanji
/ Complete Series on Chinese Bronzes, vol. 6: Western
Zhou, Beijing, 1997, pl. 188. See a vessel of slightly more
exaggerated form and with taotie masks cast in lower relief,
illustrated in Jessica Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes
from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. IIB, Washington,
D.C., 1990, pl. 82, where it is attributed to the early Western
Zhou period and compared to a similar zun excavated at
Zhuwajie, Pengxian, Sichuan province, ibid., fig. 82.1. See also
a related piece with softer designs, illustrated in ibid., pl. 80,
and another closely related vessel, sold in these rooms, 17th
September 2013, lot 16.
$ 50,000-70,000

80 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N10917 ARCHAIC BRONZES FROM THE MACLEAN COLLECTION 81