Lot 23. An archaic ritual bronze water vessel 'he' with an anthropomorphic cover, probably late Shang dynasty, ca. 1200-1100 B.C. or later. H. 19,3 cm. Sold: €52 000 (Estimate €4 000 - €6 000). Photo Nagel Auction.

The vessel cast in two parts with thin azurite and malachite patina, the lid in anthropomorphic form of a face with broad nose, bulging lips, wrinkled forehead and large, wide open eyes, at the temples with two bottle-shaped horns. The body with relief decoration of a serpentine tail wrapping around the wall, on the side of the sloping spout with 'kui' dragon, on the sides with ram's head-shaped eyelets, their openings continuing into the ears of the lid and presumably used to fasten a rope.

Provenance: From the Zeileis collection, assembled in the 1980s and 90s.

Note: This bronze vessel shape is exceedingly rare, only one comparable piece with minor differences in size and decoration details can be seen in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington (accession no. F1942.1a-b), published in Pope, Gettens et al.: The Freer Gallery Bronzes, Vol. I, Wachington, 1967, plate 39.

This vessel published in: Friedrich Georg Zeileis, 'Von Shang bis Qing, Dreieinhalb Jahrtausende Chinesische Bronze', Gallspach, 1999, no. 28, pp. 84-89 - Restored chip/hole beneath the right eye of the cover and at the base of the vessel.

Fine Asian Art - Day I by Nagel Auction, June 12, 2023 • Stuttgart, Germany