Page 87 - Deydier VOL.2 Meiyintang Collection of Chinese Bronses

165. Ritual bronze wine vessel zun
Shang dynasty, Erligang period, circa 16 - 14 centuries bc.
th
th
商代二里岡時期青銅尊
Height: 28.3 cm, Diameter: 21.4 cm

This primitive bronze wine vessel zun with a large deep- Provenance:
bowl-like body and a shorter and narrower neck that ▪ Private Collection, Japan.
gradually expands outwards as it reaches its rim, is ▪ Galerie Christian Deydier, Paris, France.
supported by a high, flared ring foot. The vessel’s neck
and foot are decorated with simple lines in relief, while its Exhibited:
concave shoulder is decorated at the base of the neck with ▪ Trésors de la Chine ancienne, Bronzes Rituels De La
a frieze of stylized kui dragons shown in profile. Collection Meiyintang, Musée des arts asiatiques
The upper part of the vessel’s body is decorated with a Guimet, Paris 13 mars - 10 juin 2013, catalogue no. 19.
single wide band of primitive taotie masks, sandwiched
between two narrower bordered bands of small circular Published:
patterns.
▪ Guimet, Musée des arts asiatiques, Trésors de la
Chine ancienne, Bronzes Rituels De La Collection
The vessel has a green and maroon patina.
Meiyintang, Paris 2013, p. 40, no. 19.
Similar example:
▪ A similar zun from the Sackler Collection, but with
a slightly different primitive taotie, is illustrated by
Bagley R.W., Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur
M. Sackler Collections, Harvard University Press,
Cambridge 1987, p. 144 - 146, no. 1.
Note:
▪ Bagley calls this type of vessel a lei.

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