A bronze ritual food vessel and cover, Ding, late Shang dynasty, 12th-11th century BC

26 octobre 2019

A bronze ritual food vessel and cover, Ding, late Shang dynasty, 12th-11th century BC

2019_CKS_17114_0001_000(a_bronze_ritual_food_vessel_and_cover_gui_western_zhou_dynasty)

2019_CKS_17114_0002_001(a_bronze_ritual_tripod_food_vessel_ding_late_shang_dynasty_12th-11th_c)

2019_CKS_17114_0002_002(a_bronze_ritual_tripod_food_vessel_ding_late_shang_dynasty_12th-11th_c)

2019_CKS_17114_0002_003(a_bronze_ritual_tripod_food_vessel_ding_late_shang_dynasty_12th-11th_c)

2019_CKS_17114_0002_004(a_bronze_ritual_tripod_food_vessel_ding_late_shang_dynasty_12th-11th_c)

2019_CKS_17114_0002_005(a_bronze_ritual_tripod_food_vessel_ding_late_shang_dynasty_12th-11th_c)

2019_CKS_17114_0002_006(a_bronze_ritual_tripod_food_vessel_ding_late_shang_dynasty_12th-11th_c)

2019_CKS_17114_0002_007(a_bronze_ritual_tripod_food_vessel_ding_late_shang_dynasty_12th-11th_c)

Lot 2. A bronze ritual food vessel and cover, Ding, late Shang dynasty, 12th-11th century BC; 8 1/8 in. (20.7 cm.) high. Estimate GBP 30,000 - GBP 50,000 (USD 38,550 - USD 64,250). Price realised GBP 250,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2019

The tri-lobed body is raised on three columnar legs and is cast above each leg with a large taotie mask with rounded eyes, all reserved on a leiwen ground. A pair of inverted U-shaped handles rises from the rim. There is a later-added inscription on one side of the interior. The bronze has a grey and mottled milky-green patina.

Provenance: C.T. Loo, Paris, by repute.
Private European Collection, acquired prior to 1998.

Note: Liding with large, relief-cast taotie masks on each lobe of the body represent one of the most popular vessel types in the late Shang and early Western Zhou periods. Two very similar liding, from the Sackler Collection, cast with an additional pair of decsending dragons flanking each taotie mask, are illustrated by R. Bagley in Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Washington, D. C., 1987, pp. 486-91, nos. 93 and 94. In his entry for the one of the Sackler liding, no. 93, Bagley illustrates seven related liding to support his assertion that there was a "wide geographic distribution of the type in late Anyang times", with a continuation into the early Western Zhou period. Another two liding from a distinguished European collection, were sold at Chrsitie's New York, 22 March 2019, lot 1502 and 1507.