An archaic bronze ritual wine vessel (gu) Late Shang Dynasty, 13th-11th century BC - Sotheby's

the tall, slim body, with flaring mouth and molded conical foot; the upper body with four elongated upright blades, filled with dissolved taotie mask in relief against a background of dense spirals, four snakes placed between the waist and neck, the waist and lower part also decorated with taotie mask and cicadas in relief against a ground of spirals, divided by four evenly spaced flanges, two bowstrings and two crosses dividing the waist and foot, the bronze with an attractive olive patina and some encrustration inside the vessel, Japanese wood box (5). Height 11 1/8  in., 28.3 cm. Estimation: 50,000 - 70,000 USD. Lot. Vendu 209,000 USD

PROVENANCE: Mayuyama & Co., Ltd., Tokyo, acquired between 1960-1969.

LITTERATURE: Mayuyama, Seventy Years, Volume Two, Mayuyama & Co., Ltd., Tokyo, 1976, p. 30, no. 32.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. New York | 19 mars 2013 - www.sothebys.com