Lot 162. An archaic bronze ritual food vessel (ding), Middle Western Zhou dynasty, 10th-9th century BC. Height 6 1/4 in., 16 cm. Estimate 40,000 — 60,000 USD. Lot sold 62,500 USD. Photo Sotheby's

the deep rounded sides rising to a pronounced everted lip and resting on three tapering columnar legs, the swelling body finely cast below the rim with a narrow band of three pairs of hook- beaked birds trailing long quills against a fine leiwen ground,  below a pair of upright U-shaped handles, a triangle of seam lines on the base extending down the slender legs,  the smooth pale green patina with areas of black and dark green encrustation, Japanese wood box (2).

Provenance: Japanese Collection formed before World War II.