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25 octobre 2013

Eskenazi Ltd Presents Bronze of a Lifetime

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Archaic Bronze Food Vessel, Bo Ju Gui, Early Western Zhou period, c. 1050-975 BC. Height: 23.8 cm; width (handle to handle): 30.5cm; weight: 4.5 kg.

LONDON - Giuseppe Eskenazi is renowned for handling Chinese objects of the greatest rarity and quality but the bronze vessel to be exhibited at Eskenazi Ltd, 10 Clifford Street, London, from 31 October to 22 November 2013 is exceptional even by his high standards. Known as the Bo Ju gui, it dates from circa 1050-975 BC, early Western Zhou period, and is one of the most important Chinese bronzes to come on the market in the past twenty years. Its exhibition coincides with Asian Art in London (31 October to 9 November), the annual event that unites London’s Asian art dealers, major auction houses and societies in a series of selling exhibitions, auctions, receptions, lectures and seminars, attracting collectors from around the globe.

Giuseppe Eskenazi says of this extraordinary vessel: ‘When I published my memoirs A Dealer’s Hand that recorded many of the marvellous archaic Chinese bronzes that have passed through the gallery’s doors, I would never have expected that a year later I would be privileged to handle a vessel that overshadows them all in historical importance’. 

Such archaic bronze vessels were made for ritual use, and the combination of the square box-like base and rounded body of the gui was an innovation of the early Western Zhou. Its exceptional design incorporates animal masks in high relief on the vessel, mirrored on each corner of the base, and in profile on the sides. However, what distinguishes this bronze is the inscription inside the basin – ‘Bo Ju made this precious offering vessel’. Bo Ju was a prominent figure in the state of Yan, a remote but important region of Zhou, and he appears to have commissioned bronze vessels of various types that are all cast with his name. Some may now be seen in museum collections.

This bronze was first published in 1872, when it was already a subject for discussion and highly prized by Chinese collectors. It is known to have belonged to the Qing connoisseur Pan Zuyin (1830-1890), a major bronze collector whose most important pieces are now in the Shanghai Museum. More recently the bronze has been in the collection of Walter Hochstadter, Adelaide, and, since 1993, in a private collection. Widely documented, it was included in the highly acclaimed Bronze exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in 2012. 

The accompanying catalogue will include an introductory essay by Dr Lukas Nickel, Reader in Chinese Art History and Archaeology, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.

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Archaic Bronze Food Vessel, Bo Ju Gui, Early Western Zhou period, c. 1050-975 BC. Height: 23.8 cm; width (handle to handle): 30.5cm; weight: 4.5 kg

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Archaic Bronze Food Vessel, Bo Ju Gui, Early Western Zhou period, c. 1050-975 BC. Height: 23.8 cm; width (handle to handle): 30.5cm; weight: 4.5 kg

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Archaic Bronze Food Vessel, Bo Ju Gui, Early Western Zhou period, c. 1050-975 BC. Height: 23.8 cm; width (handle to handle): 30.5cm; weight: 4.5 kg

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