Page 108 - Deydier VOL.2 Meiyintang Collection of Chinese Bronses

172. Archaic bronze wine vessel jia
Shang dynasty, Yinxu period, circa 13 - 11 centuries bc.
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商代殷墟時期青銅斝
Height: 33.5 cm

An archaic bronze wine vessel jia supported on three Inscription:
pointed triangular legs, each of which is decorated on ▪ A single pictogram, probably a clan mark, is cast inside
its outer sides with a stylized cicada-shaped motif. The the vessel.
vessel’s round body is divided into three different friezes,
the largest of which is decorated with taotie masks Provenance:
composed of large confronting kui dragons on a leiwen ▪ Private Collection, California, U.S.A. before 1978.
background divided by small flanges, while the frieze ▪ Sotheby’s, New York, November 4 , 1978.
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above that is decorated with a band of smaller stylized kui ▪ Sotheby’s, London, June 10 , 1986.
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dragons on a leiwen background, the centre pair of which ▪ Alan & Simone Hartman Collection, New York, U.S.A.
face each other across a narrow vertical flange. The top ▪ Oriental Bronzes Ltd, Christian Deydier, London, U.K.
section of the vessel’s body is decorated with triangular, ▪ Frank Arts Collection, Antwerp, Belgium.
stylized cicadas on a plain background. ▪ Galerie Christian Deydier, Paris, France.
Two high mushroom-like tenons, each consisting of Exhibited:
a square stem surmounted by an umbrella-like top ▪ Sotheby’s, New York, November 4 , 1978, catalogue
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decorated with geometrical patterns, emerge from the no. 317.
vessel’s upper rim. A very simple, undecorated handle ▪ Sotheby’s, London, June 10 , 1986, catalogue no. 49.
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extends from the back of the vessel’s body.
▪ The Frank Arts Collection / Fine Art Asia, Hong Kong,
The vessel has a nice light-green patina. Galerie Christian Deydier, Paris 2011, catalogue no. 4.
▪ Trésors de la Chine ancienne, Bronzes Rituels De La
Collection Meiyintang, Musée des arts asiatiques
Guimet, Paris 13 mars - 10 juin 2013, catalogue no. 31.

Published:
▪ Sotheby’s, New York, November 4 , 1978, catalogue
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no. 317.
▪ Sotheby’s, London, June 10 , 1986, catalogue no. 49.
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▪ Liu Yu, Jin Chu Yin Zhou Jinwen Jilu, 2002, no. 923.
劉雨《近出殷周金文集錄》2002年版 923號.
▪ Liu Yu & Wang Tao, Liu San Oumei Yin Zhou You
Ming Qingtongci Jilu (A selection of Early Chinese
bronzes with inscriptions from Sotheby’s & Christie’s
sales), Shanghai 2007, no. 315. 劉雨 & 汪濤《流散歐美
殷周有銘青銅器集錄》上海 2007年版 315號.
▪ Deydier Ch., The Frank Arts Collection / Fine Art Asia,
Hong Kong, Paris 2011, p.18 - 21, no. 4.
▪ Wu Zhenfeng, Shang Zhou Qingtongqi Mingwen
Ji Tuxiang Jicheng, Shanghai 2012, Vol. 20, p. 33,
no. 10911. 吳鎮烽《商周青銅器銘文暨圖像集成》上海
2012年版, 第20冊, 第33頁 10911號.
▪ Guimet, Musée des arts asiatiques, Trésors de la
Chine ancienne, Bronzes Rituels De La Collection
Meiyintang, Paris 2013, p. 54, no. 32.

Similar examples:
▪ A very similar jia excavated in 1959 in Anyang, Henan
province is illustrated in Zhongguo Qingtongqi Quanji,
Vol. 3 - Shang 3, Beijing 1997, p. 47, no. 47.
▪ Another jia excavated in Anyang in 1980, but with
a handle decorated with a stylized animal’s head in
high relief, and surmounted by a cover, is published
in Zhongguo Qingtongqi Quanji, Vol. 3 - Shang 3,
Beijing 1997, p. 49, no. 49.
▪ Another jia, but with a cover and now in the Avery
Brundage Collection, the Asian Art Museum, San
Francisco, is illustrated by Lefebvre d’Argencé
R.Y., Bronze Vessels of Ancient China in The Avery
Brundage Collection, San Francisco 1977, p. 62 - 63,
no. B60 B1019.

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