Provenance: David Hausman, New York, 1990.

Note: The inscription cast on the interior of the foot consists of the character Yi, a personal name, followed by a second character, possibly reading gui.

A larger (23.7 cm.) gu with similar cast decoration around the mid-section, but cast with additional taotie on the spreading foot, is illustrated by R.W. Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, 1987, p. 258, no. 40, where it is dated 13th-12th century BC.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 21 - 22 March 2013