Lot 1111. A finely cast bronze ritual food vessel, gui, early Western Zhou dynasty, 11th century B.C.; 8 ½ in. (21.7 cm.) high. Estimate USD 250,000 - USD 350,000. Price realised USD 300,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2018 

The body is crisply cast in high relief on each side with a pair of coiled dragons with protruding fangs confronted on a notched flange, and reserved on a leiwen ground. The vessel is flanked by a pair of loop handles surmounted by animal masks and with a tab cast with a claw and tail feather of a bird projecting from the bottom. The pedestal foot is cast on each side with two dragons confronted on a narrow flange. The bronze has an attractive, smooth dark grey patina. Together with a line drawing of the present lot by Hongwei Dong.

Accompanying line drawing by Hongwei Dong.

Provenance: Christie's London, 23 October 1967, lot 152. 
:J.T. Tai & Co., New York. 
The Bella and P.P. Chiu Collection.
Sotheby's London, 7 June 2000, lot 8.

Literature: J. Rawson, The Bella and P.P. Chiu Collection of Ancient Chinese Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1988, pp. 64-5, no. 20. 
R. A. Pegg and Lidong Zhang, The MacLean Collection: Chinese Ritual Bronzes, Chicago, 2010, pp. 80-3, no. 17.

Note: Bronze gui decorated with large coiled dragons and protruding fangs are particularly characteristic of the early Western Zhou dynasty. This motif appears on the famous Tian Wang gui in the National Museum of China, Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji (Complete Collection of Chinese Bronzes), vol. 5: Western Zhou 1, Beijing, 1996, no. 50. From its inscription, we learn that the Tian Wang gui was cast during the reign of King Wu, the first Western Zhou king, which makes it one of the earliest dated Western Zhou bronzes.