Lot 219. An Early Black Pottery Beaker, Gu, Early Shang Dynasty (c. 1500-1050 BC); 10¼in. (26cm.) high. Estimate USD 4,000 - USD 6,000. Price realised USD 7,050. © Christie's Image Limited

Of tall slender form flaring toward the mouth rim and pedestal foot where three small curved tabs project from the rim, the lower body encircled by a grooved band, the black ware burnished and burnt to a brownish color on one side in the firing.

Note: This vessel appears to be related to or is a slightly more evolved example of other plain gu-form vessels from the Erlitou Culture, such as those illustrated in Cream of the Pottery from Erlitou, Beijing, 1995, p. 101, fig. 74 and p. l05, fig. 80. Compare, also, the gu with bowstring bands on the lower body dated to Early Shang included in the exhibition, Treasures from the Shanghai Museum, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, 1983, no. 12. These pottery vessels were imitating bronze prototypes, such as the less elongated example dated to the 16th-14th century B.C. included in the exhibition, Treasures from the Shanghai Museum, Queensland Art Gallery, 1990, no. 5.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics, Paintings and Works of Art, New York, 21 September 2000