Lot 1130. A bronze ritual tripod food vessel and cover, ding, Warring States period, 5th century BC & A grey pottery ding and cover, Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BC); Bronze ding 10 in. (25.4 cm.) high; pottery ding 10 in. (25.4 cm.) high. Estimate USD 25,000 - USD 35,000. Price realised USD 56,250. © Christie's Images Ltd 2013

The deep, globular body is raised on three cabriole legs and has two upright handles decorated with bands of angular scrolls. The sides are flat-cast with an upper band of angular dragon scrolls separated by a raised rope-twist band from a lower band of tightly arranged interlocking dragon scrolls. Related bands on the domed cover are separated by three ring handles/supports and encircle a whorl motif in the center. The surface has a milky green patina with extensive azurite encrustation on the interior of the vessel, and malachite encrustation inside the cover. Together with a grey pottery ding and cover, Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BC), which has a mask in relief at the top of each of the three tall supports, and three pinched appliques at the edge of the cover. There are traces of pigment and silver leaf.

Provenance: Grey pottery ding and cover: Mathias Komor Chinese Art, New York, no. R 90.
Raymond A. Bidwell (1876-1954) Collection.
The Springfield Museums, Springfield, Massachusetts, accessioned in 1962.

Literature: Both: The Raymond A. Bidwell Collection of Chinese Bronzes and Ceramics, Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Massachusetts, 1965, pp. 36-37.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 21 - 22 March 2013