Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 20 - 21 March 2014
A small bronze ritual tripod food vessel, ding, Late Shang dynasty, 12th century BC
Lot 2009. A small bronze ritual tripod food vessel, ding, Late Shang dynasty, 12th century BC; 6 3/8 in. (16.2 cm.) high. Estimate USD 30,000 - USD 50,000. Price Realized USD 37,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2014.
The globular body is raised on three columnar supports, and is flat- cast around the sides with a band of three taotie masks formed by pairs of dragons with coiled tails confronted on narrow flanges above pendent triangular blades that are slightly raised from the surface. The decoration has black inlay. A pair of bail handles rises from the rim. The vessel has a mottled patina and milky green encrustation.
Provenance: J.J. Lally & Co., New York, January 1989.
Note: Compare the pair of ding of approximately the same size and with similar upper taotie band, but with cicada centering the pendent blades encircling the body, illustrated in Royal Ontario Museum, The T.T. Tsui Galleries of Chinese Art, Toronto, 1986, no. 12.