Lot 105. A massive archaic bronze vessel and cover, hu, Spring and Autumn Period (770-475 BC); 72cm (28 3/8in) high. (2). Sold for HKD 3,153,000 (Est: HKD 3,000,000 - HKD 4,000,000). © Bonhams 2001-2022

The compressed pear-shaped body supported on a tall spreading foot, crisply cast on a leiwen ground with two undulating wave bands enclosing detached C-scrolls and O-shapes around the lower bulging body, below a smaller register of stylized dragons and another wave band at the neck, interrupted by a pair of handles issuing from reticulated dragon heads, all above three rows of overlapping pendent lappets around the pierced foot, the cover cast with a zoomorphic band around the rim, surmounted by six everted reticulated lappets encircling a large central medallion of entwining serpents enclosed by a sawtooth border, the surface with light malachite encrustation.

Provenance: Acquired in Taiwan, 1990s (by repute)
Formerly in the collection of a late member of the Ching Wan Society, Taipei (by repute)
An Asian private collection.

Note: This massive wine vessel with its dramatic crown-shaped cover is a magnificent example of the flamboyant style of bronze vessels that was developed in the latter part of the Western Zhou dynasty and continued to become even more elaborate in the early Eastern Zhou dynasty.

For the development of this unique form and decoration, compare a 'Spring and Autumn' period hu vessel excavated in Shanxi province, Xi County, but with eight everted reticulated lappets encircling the cover, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Bronzes Unearthed in China, Beijing, 2018, vol.4, p.410, pl.340; a late Spring and Autumn period Huanzi Mengjiang hu vessel in the Shanghai Museum collection with the cover missing, illustrated in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji [Complete Collection of Chinese Archaic Bronzes], Beijing, 1998, vol.9, p.24, pl.23. The same detached C-scrolls on the present vessel remain in vogue from the mid Western Zhou dynasty to the 'Spring and Autumn' period, compare with the body of a Western Zhou dynasty King Xiao period Xiaoke ding vessel in the Shanghai Museum collection, illustrated by P.F. Chen in Xiashangzhou qingtongqi yanjiu: XiZhou pian (The Study of Archaic Bronzes in the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties: Western Zhou Dynasty), vol.1, Shanghai, 2004, p.247, pl.300. The reticulated design of the dragon-head handles appears also on a Western Zhou dynasty bronze 'dragon' handles hu in the Shanghai Museum collection, illustrated in ibid., p.534, pl.411; yet such design is more commonly seen on 'Spring and Autumn' period hu vessels, see two further comparable examples of a mid 'Spring and Autumn' period kui dragon square-sectioned vase in the National Museum of China, and a late Spring and Autumn period Cai hou square-sectioned vase in the Anhui Provincial Museum, both illustrated in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji (Complete Collection of Chinese Archaic Bronzes), Beijing, 1998, vols.7 and 8, pls.74 and 62.

Other massive hu vessels with handles issuing from reticulated dragon heads, and with a body decorated with detached C-scrolls and cover flanged with everted reticulated lappets excavated in Hubei were published in The Complete Collection of Bronzes Unearthed in China, Beijing, 2018, vol.12, pls.225, 314 and 315; see also a related bronze hu vessel sold at Sotheby's New York, 15 September 2011, lot 1118.

Bonhams. GANBEI A TOAST TO CHINESE WINE CULTURE, 30 November 2022, Hong Kong, Admiralty