A bronze tripod ritual wine vessel, gu, Shang dynasty, 13th-12th century BC
Lot 1235. A bronze tripod ritual wine vessel, gu, Shang dynasty, 13th-12th century BC; 11 in. (27.9 cm.) high. Estimate USD 35,000 - USD 45,000. Price realised USD 134,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2011
Crisply cast on the spreading foot and narrow waist with two taotie masks centered and divided by four notched flanges, the two sections separated by two bow-string bands interrupted by three reticulated cross-shaped apertures, beneath a narrow band ofleiwen and four tall upright blades rising to the flared rim, with some malachite encrustation and milky blue patina.
Provenance: Acquired in Hong Kong in 1991.
The Tsui Museum of Art.
Note: A gu of similar proportions and with similar cast decoration, in the Henan Provincial Museum, is illustrated in Zhongguo Qingtongqi Quanji - 4 - Shang (4), Beijing, 1998, p. 67, no. 69. See, also, the gu of slightly smaller size (26 cm.) with similar cast decoration, from the Sze Yuan Tang Collection, and formerly in the Mount Trust Collection, sold in these rooms, 16 September 2010, lot 803.
Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Part I and Part II Including Property from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, New York, 24 March 2011