Shang Dynasty

Ritual vessel jue for serving wine, Shang dynasty, ca 1200 BC. Bronze, height 18 cm. National Gallery of Prague, Vp 2909. The ritual bronze wares from the Bronze Period (ca 2000–200 BC) that have survived in China in large numbers are unique in use and production technology. They were not made in the so-called lost-wax technique, but were cast in complexly decorated moulds of joint ceramic parts specially produced for each object. At the time the first states were forming in China, these vessels were used for rituals to pay respect... [Lire la suite]

  Lot 232. An archaic bronze ritual food vessel (ding), Shang dynasty, Erligang culture. Height 24.4 cm. Estimate 50,000 - 70,000 USD. Unsold. © Sotheby's 2023 Provenance: Japanese Private Collection, acquired in the 1980s and 1990s.Ikeda Kobijutsu, Tokyo. Note: This type of ding with pointed legs is characteristic of ritual bronzes from the pre-Anyang period of the Shang dynasty, but the band of decoration on the current vessel is broader and particularly crisp. Compare... [Lire la suite]

Lot 201. Property from a Hawai private collection. A rare archaic dark green jade ceremonial blade (Yazhang), Late Neolithic period. Length 34.5 cm. Estimate 5,000 - 8,000 USD. Lot Sold 19,050 USD. © Sotheby's 2023 Provenance: E&J Frankel, New York, 1980-81. Note: See a closely related jade blade of a slightly smaller size, attributed to the Neolithic period, Shimao culture, Shaanxi province, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published on the Museum's website (accession no. 新00125945).... [Lire la suite]

Lot 242. An elegant bronze ritual wine vessel "Gu", Shang dynasty, 11th century BC; height 32.5 cm. Sold for CHF 49 100 (Estimate CHF 40 000 / 60 000 | (€ 41 240 / 61 860)). Photo Koller With a character at the inside of the foot. Slightly restored. Provenance: Swiss private collection. Koller. ART D'ASIE : HIMALAYA, CHINE. 20 June 2023

A Shang dynasty's turquoise-inlaid ornament unearthed in Shaanxi province. Image: Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology on WeChat. Chinese archaeologists working on the Loess Plateau in north-central China have uncovered a vast site of rammed earth buildings, cemeteries, and bronze casting workshops dating back around 3,200 years ago. The site, which spans 11 hills and is situated today in Shaanxi province, was home to a regional power during the Shang dynasty, a Bronze Age period running from 1600 to 1046 B.C.E. It has been... [Lire la suite]

Lot 452. A grey and brown jade notched disc, Shang dynasty; d. 9 cm. Lot sold: 50,400 HKD (Estimate: 40,000 - 60,000 HKD). © 2022 Sotheby's. Lot 452. A grey and brown jade notched disc, Shang dynasty; d. 14.5 cm. Lot sold: 81,900 HKD (Estimate: 30,000 - 50,000 HKD). © 2022 Sotheby's. Provenance: Acquired in Hong Kong in November 1983.Sotheby's Hong Kong, 1st June 2017, lot 317. Lot 455. A greyish celadon jade ‘rabbit’... [Lire la suite]

  Lot 202. An inscribed archaic bronze tripod food vessel, Ding, Shang dynasty. Height 15.3 cm, 6 in. Lot sold: £88,200 (Estimate: £70,000 - 90,000). © 2022 Sotheby's. the interior with an inscription who may read Zi and Long. Provenance: Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 19th-20th February 1958, lot 251.Collection of Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987).Collection of Else Sackler (1913-2000), thence by decsent.Christie's New York, 17th March 2017, lot 1001. Literature : Robert Poor,... [Lire la suite]

The Personal Collection of the late Sir Joseph Hotung. Lot 104. An archaic bone carving, Shang dynasty, Anyang period, 14th-13th century BC; 9.4 cm. Lot sold: 378,000 HKD (Estimate: 100,000 - 150,000 HKD). © Sotheby's 2022 the thick shaft of animal bone incised finely with a pair of large confronted kui dragons shown in profile, coming across the narrow edge to form a zoomorphic mask, and with two smaller kui dragons forming another zoomorphic mask on the... [Lire la suite]

Tortoise plastron with divination, Shang dynasty, Bronze Age, Yin Ruins, 127 Xiaotun Ash Pit, Anyang County, Henan Province, Collection of Institute of History and Linguistics, Academia Sinica, R041287. The oracle bones of the Yin King Wuding period. Bu asked Empress Wuding about giving birth. Guess the sex of good and bad from the date of birth.

Tortoise plastron with divination, Shang dynasty, Bronze Age, Yin Ruins, 127 Xiaotun Ash Pit, Anyang County, Henan Province, Collection of Institute of History and Linguistics, Academia Sinica, R044284. This is a combination of two plastrons, and the inscription is filled with ink. Engraved with 33 characters of oracle bone script. The content is that on the day of Xin You, the divination asks whether the hostile country can be defeated.