An Archaic Bronze Ritual Food Vessel (gui), Early Western Zhou Dynasty, 10th Century BC

An Archaic Bronze Ritual Food Vessel (gui), Early Western Zhou Dynasty, 10th Century BC

An Archaic Bronze Ritual Food Vessel (gui), Early Western Zhou Dynasty, 10th Century BC. Photo Sotheby's

cast with a swelling body below an everted rim with a band of archaic phoenix reserved on a leiwen ground confronting a small stylized animal mask on each side, the vessel flanked by a pair of loop handles each surmounted by a bovine mask and terminating in a hooked pendent tab, the mottled silvery-green patina with areas of malachite and azurite encrustation, wood stand, Japanese wood box (3). Height 5 5/8 in., 14.3 cm - ESTIMATION 80,000-120,000 USD

PROVENANCE: Japanese collection formed prior to World War II.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, New York | 11 sept. 2012 www.sothebys.com