Lot 1502. A bronze ritual tripod wine vessel, jue, Shang dynasty, 12th-11th century BC, 7¾ in. (19.8 cm.) high. Estimate USD 60,000 - USD 80,000. Price realised USD 110,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2012

Raised on three blade-shaped supports, the sides well cast with twotaotie masks flanked by inverted dragons and separated by notched flanges, one mask centered on a flange, the other centered on the inscription cast beneath the loop handle issuing from a bovine mask, with a band of triangles above and a blade on the underside of the spout, all reserved on a leiwen ground, with a pair of capped posts rising from the rim, with malachite encrustation.

Provenance: Mathias Komor, New York, 1956.

Note: The inscription cast under the handle consists of a graph composed of an eye oriented above a star, followed by the characters Fu Ji (Father Ji).

Jue appear to have been essential to Shang dynasty rituals, as they are one of the most numerous vessels found in Shang tombs. Their shape implies that they were used for the heating and pouring of ritual wines, and possibly for drinking the wine. The present jue is stylistically similar to one in the Shanghai Museum illustrated in Zhongquo Qingtongqi Quanji - 3 - Shang (3), Beijing, 1997, p. 20, no. 20.