Lot 9. The Fu Yi You. A  bronze ritual wine vessel, late Shang Dynasty, 13th-11th century BC. Height 12 1/4 in., 31 cm. Estimate 80,000 — 120,000 USD. Lot sold 317,000 USD. Photo Sotheby's

of oval section, the wide pear-shaped body raised on a splayed foot encircled by two bowstring bands, decorated around the neck with a band of twelve repeated eyes between two borders of circles, centered on two sides by animal-masks in high relief and interrupted by loops attached to the twisted rope-like overhead arch handle, the slightly waisted domed cover decorated with a similar band of kui dragons, surmounted by a lobed knob detailed with intaglio, the surface with mottled green patina, a matching three-character inscription on the inside of both vessel and cover, with hardwood fitted stand (2). 

Provenance: Private Japanese collection.

Note: Bronze you vessels of this type emerged as one of the major ritual receptacles in the Late Shang dynasty and remained prominent until the Middle Western Zhou dynasty. However, a you vessel with a band of twelve kui dragons such as the present piece is rare. One closely related example but with a different style handle, was included by Wu Zhenfeng, Shangzhou qingtongqi mingwen ji tuxiang jicheng (Compendium of Inscriptions and Images of Bronzes from the Shang and Zhou Dynasties), 2012, vol. 23, p. 106. This you vessel is notable for its twisted rope-like handle. The casting technique of this type of handle has attracted substantial attention from academic circles. One group of scholars argues that the twisted rope-like handle was manufactured by the "burning off technique", a technique that creates molds by burning off actual ropes covered with layers of clay.

The box for this lot is inscribed with two notes: one written by Zoroku, dated 1924; the other written by Professor Matsumaru Michio, dated 2003.

Sotheby's. Archaic Bronzes and the Wu Dacheng Jijintu Scroll. New York. 18 mars 2014