Page 69 - Deydier VOL.2 Meiyintang Collection of Chinese Bronses

160. Ritual bronze wine vessel jiao
Xia dynasty, Erlitou culture, circa 19 - 16 centuries bc.
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夏代二里頭文化期青銅角
Height: 18.5 cm

An archaic bronze vessel jiao used for heating fermented Provenance:
beverages. The cup is supported by three triangular legs. ▪ Private Collection, Taipei, Taiwan.
The body of the vessel consists of an oval, flat-bottomed ▪ Galerie Christian Deydier, Paris, France.
body whose sides gradually narrow at the vessel’s centre
and then extend outwards as they rise to form a pair of Exhibited:
open, horn-like spouts. From the middle of the body’s ▪ Trésors de la Chine ancienne, Bronzes Rituels De La
front section a much longer he-vessel-like cylindrical Collection Meiyintang, Musée des arts asiatiques
pouring spout emerges. Guimet, Paris 13 mars - 10 juin 2013, catalogue no. 7.
One side of the vessel is decorated with a narrow band Published:
of small circular patterns cast in high relief, while a long ▪ Guimet, Musée des arts asiatiques, Trésors de la
loop-handle, extending from just below the vessel’s top Chine ancienne, Bronzes Rituels De La Collection
rim to just above its wide sloping waist, emerges from the Meiyintang, Paris 2013, p. 24 - 25, no. 7.
opposite side of the vessel. .
Similar examples:
The vessel has a nice dark green patina. ▪ A very similar hybrid jiao(角) - he (盉) vessel jiao,
excavated in 1980 in Luoning, Shaanxi province, and
now in the Museum of History of Shaanxi Province, is
published in Zhongguo Qingtongqi Quanji, Vol. 1 - Xia
- Shang, Beijing, 1996, p. 11, no. 11.
▪ Another such hybrid jiao, from the Shanghai Museum,
is illustrated by Deydier Ch., Les Bronzes Archaïques
Chinois - Archaic Chinese Bronzes - I - Xia & Shang,
Paris 1995, p. 34, and in Zhongguo Qingtongqi Quanji,
Vol. 1 - Xia - Shang, Beijing, 1996, p. 12 no. 12.

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