Lot 904. A rare large bronze ritual food vessel, yu, Early Western Zhou dynasty, 11th-10th century BC; 15 ¼ in. (37.7 cm.) wide across handles. Estimate USD 80,000 - USD 120,000. Price realised USD 287,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The bowl-shaped vessel is flanked by a pair of projecting, inverted U-shaped handles. The exterior is decorated with a narrow band of whorls alternating with stylized dragons, and the foot is cast with a band of threetaotie masks. The bottom of the interior is cast with a single clan mark, Ge. The surface has a thin layer of malachite and cuprite encrustation, and the base is further covered with bright blue azurite encrustation.

Provenance: Sotheby's London, 16 May 1967, lot 38.
Arthur M. Sackler Collections. 
Else Sackler, 1997. 
The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation.

Literature: Minao Hayashi, In Shu jidai seidoki no kenkyu (Conspectus of Yin and Zhou Bronzes), vol. 2, Tokyo, 1984, pl. 139, xiao xing yu no. 22.
J. Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. IIB, The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, Washington, D.C., 1990, pp. 454-59, no. 59.

Exhibited: On loan: Fitchburg, Massachusetts, Fitchburg Art Museum, September 2005-2015.

Note: The single clan mark cast on the interior of the present vessel is in the shape of a ge dagger-axe. The Ge clan is one of the oldest and most extensive clans in the Shang and Zhou dynasties. Some of the earliest bronze vessels bearing the Ge clan mark were found in Wuguan Village, Anyang City, and are dated to the early second phase of the Anyang period, circa early 13th century BC. The patron of the present yu vessel was likely from one of the branches of the Ge clan that lived in the Zhou land (in modern-day Shaanxi) and managed to maintain their power and wealth under the Zhou rule.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York