Page 60 - Deydier VOL.2 Meiyintang Collection of Chinese Bronses

158. Ritual bronze wine vessel jue
Xia dynasty, Erlitou period, circa 19 - 16 centuries bc.
th
th
夏代二里頭文化期青銅爵
Height: 14 cm, Length: 13 cm

A bronze tripod cup used for warming fermented Provenance:
beverages. The wide, rounded lower body of the oval flat- ▪ Galerie Christian Deydier, Paris, France.
bottomed vessel narrows in its centre before spreading
outwards as it rises towards its top. The vessel is supported Exhibited:
by three, short, outwardly extending triangular legs which ▪ Treasures from Ancient China - III, Asia Week / New
taper off to end in pointed, almost sword-blade-like tips. York, Galerie Christian Deydier, Paris 2011, catalogue
One side of the vessel is decorated with two horizontal p. 12 - 15.
lines in light relief, while from the other side, also
decorated with two horizontal lines in light relief, a wide Published:
semi-circular handle extends downwards from below the ▪ Deydier Ch., Treasures from Ancient China - III, Asia
upper lip of the vessel to the centre of the vessel’s wide,
rounded lower body. Each end of the handle is cast in Week / New York, Paris 2011, p. 12 - 15.
open-work and is broader than the central section of the Similar examples:
handle. The vessel’s long spout is embellished with a pair
of upwardly protruding tendons just above the area where ▪ Several bronze jue of the Erlitou period of different
it extends from the oval-shaped body. sizes and forms are illustrated in Deydier Ch., Les
Bronzes Archaïques Chinois - Archaic Chinese
The vessel has a grey patina speckled with patches of Bronzes - I - Xia & Shang, Paris 1995, p. 16 to 30 and
maroon and blue. in Zhongguo Qingtongqi Quanji, Vol. 1 - Xia - Shang,
Beijing 1996, nos. 2 to 10.
▪ Two jue in the Meiyintang Collection are illustrated by
Wang Tao in Chinese Bronzes from the Meiyintang
Collection, London 2009, nos. 2 and 3.
Notes:
▪ Bronze vessels from this very early period are extremely
rare. Few pieces were excavated from the Erlitou III
strata period, a period which witnessed the birth of
bronze production in China and which thus marks an
important turning point in Chinese cultural history.
▪ The jue wine cup is one of the most ancient forms of
Chinese ritual bronzes; it first appears in bronze in the
Erlitou culture, which is, according to some scholars,
the last period of the Xia dynasty.

60