Page 39 - Christies September 13 to 14th Fine Chinese Works of Art New York

Bronze gui decorated with large coiled dragons and protruding fangs are
particularly characteristic of the early Western Zhou dynasty. This motif
appears on the famous Tian Wang gui in the National Museum of China,
Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji (Complete Collection of
Chinese Bronzes), vol. 5: Western Zhou 1, Beijing, 1996, no. 50. From its
inscription, we learn that the Tian Wang gui was cast during the reign of King
Wu, the frst Western Zhou king, which makes it one of the earliest dated
Western Zhou bronzes.
Gui of this type appear to have two diferent bands of decoration on the foot:
either bottle-horn dragons with long curved snouts, or S-shaped serpents.
The frst type is represented by the present example and a gui in the National
Palace Museum, illustrated in Catalogue to the Special Exhibition of Grain
Vessels of the Shang and Chou Dynasties, Taipei, 1985, pl. 23. The second
type is represented by a gui excavated from a Western Zhou cemetery at
Zhuyuangou near Baoji, Shaanxi province, illustrated in Wenwu, 1983, no. 2,
pl. 2 fg. 2. Another gui with the S-shaped serpent band on the foot was sold
at Christie’s New York, 26 March, 2010, lot 1270.

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