Page 129 - Deydier VOL.2 Meiyintang Collection of Chinese Bronses

177. Ritual bronze wine vessel zun
Shang dynasty, Yinxu period, circa 13 - 11 centuries bc.
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商代殷墟時期青銅尊
Height: 28 cm

An archaic ritual wine vessel zun. The vessel’s short, Provenance:
portly body is topped by a receding, almost flat shoulder, ▪ Reputed to have been found in Anyang, Henan
surmounted by a fairly long, thick neck that gradually province, in the early 1940s.
opens outwards as it rises towards its wide, eave-like rim. ▪ Hans Juergen von Lochow Collection, Germany.
Each of the three friezes of decoration on the body of the ▪ Sotheby’s, London, 6 April, 1976.
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vessel is decorated with a pair of confronting, stylized ▪ British Rail Pension Fund, London, U.K.
kui dragons of spider-like proportions, shown in profile, ▪ Sotheby’s, London, 12 December, 1989.
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which merge at a wide, ridge-like vertical decorated strip ▪ Private Collection, Paris, France.
to form a large taotie mask, on a leiwen background ▪ Eskenazi Ltd, London, U.K.
inlaid with a carbonated substance. The vessel’s shoulder
is decorated with three stylized, ram-like heads in the Exhibited:
round, separated from each other by bands of stylized ▪ Sotheby’s, London, 6 April, 1976, catalogue no. 2.
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birds shown in profile. The vessel’s short, flared foot is ▪ Dallas Museum of Art, 1985 - 1988.
cast all round with a bordered band of C-scroll motifs.
▪ Sotheby’s, London, 12 December, 1989, catalogue
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no. 6.
The vessel has a nice light green patina with areas of
malachite and cuprite incrustations. ▪ Trésors de la Chine ancienne, Bronzes Rituels De La
Collection Meiyintang, Musée des arts asiatiques
Guimet, Paris 13 mars - 10 juin 2013, catalogue no. 22.
Published:
▪ Lochow H.J. von, Sammlung Lochow: Chinesiche
Bronzen, Beijing 1944, Vol. II, pl. VIII a - c.
▪ Sotheby’s, London, 6 April, 1976, catalogue no. 2.
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▪ Bagley R.W., Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur
M. Sackler Collections, Harvard University Press,
Cambridge 1987, p. 127, fig. 185.
▪ Sotheby’s, London, 12 December, 1989, catalogue
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no. 6.
▪ Deydier Ch., Les Bronzes Archaïques Chinois, Archaic
Chinese Bronzes - I - Xia & Shang, Paris 1995, p. 73.
▪ Li Xueqin & Ai Lan (Sarah Allan), Ouzhou Suocang
Zhongguo Qingtongqi Yizhu - Chinese Bronzes: A
Selection From European Collections, Beijing 1995,
no. 35. 李學勤 & 艾蘭《歐洲所藏中國青銅器遺珠》北
京1995年版, 35 號.
▪ Eskenazi G., A Dealer’s Hand, The Chinese Art World
Through The Eyes Of Giuseppe Eskenazi, London
2012, p. 181, no. 15.
▪ Guimet, Musée des arts asiatiques, Trésors de la
Chine ancienne, Bronzes Rituels De La Collection
Meiyintang, Paris 2013, p. 43, no. 22.

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