Lot 256. An inscribed archaic bronze ritual wine vessel (Zhi), Early Western Zhou dynasty (1050-771 BC). Height 5 in., 12.8 cm. Lot sold: 8,190 USD (Estimate: 2,000 - 3,000 USD). © Sotheby's 2022

cast to the interior with a three-character inscription reading Ran fu ding.

Property from an Oklahoma Private Collection.

Provenance: Sotheby's London, 10th June 1986, lot 41.
Collection of Charles R. Nesbitt (1921-2007), and thence by descent.

Literature: Wang Tao and Liu Yu, Liusan oumei yinzhou youming qingtongqi jilu / A Selection of Early Chinese Bronzes with Inscriptions from Sotheby's and Christie's Sales, Shanghai, 2007, pl. 184.

Note: Charles R. Nesbitt was an Oklahoma attorney, politician and a permanent member of the board of Oklahoma Museum of Art, Oklahoma City. He held several political positions in the Oklahoma state government, having served as the 9th Attorney General of Oklahoma (1963–1967), a member of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (1969–1975), and as Oklahoma Secretary of Energy under Governor David Walters (1991–1995).

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 21 september 2022