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Current issue 10 Sept | 28 Oct
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<b>A LARGE ARCHAIC BRONZE <em>HU</em></b><br>The massive bronze vessel coming to auction in New York this autumn stands out for its size, solidity and stylized design motifs. Technically challenging to produce, and requiring an immense amount of resources and labour, large archaic bronze ritual vessels are extremely rare, and owning one such as this would have been a perquisite reserved for high-ranking members of Shang and Western Zhou society. Here, Sotheby’s expert Caroline Schulten explains, element by element, why this vessel has long been known and coveted.<br/><br/>A RARE AND IMPORTANT LARGE ARCHAIC BRONZE RITUAL FOOD VESSEL (HU) LATE SHANG / EARLY WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY<br/>Height 40.6 cm.; 16 in.<br/>Estimate $2,500,000-3,000,000 <b>The object as vessel</b><br>Large ritual bronzes such as this piece were utilized by high-ranking members of Shang and Western Zhou society for ritual offerings of food and wine to summon the help of ancestral spirits. <b>Patina</b><br>The rich patina of the oxidized bronze, with its deep shades of green, brown and steely-gray, is unique to the vessel and developed over millennia while the piece was in a burial context. <b>The flanges</b><br>The flanges on this vessel run down the centre of each side and along the sides, cleverly hiding the joins of the multiple-part mold used in the complex casting process. <b>Zoomorphic design</b><br>The large circular bulging eyes on each side of the vessel are the most visible part of a taotie mask, a ferocious animal mask with large curled horns, formidable snout and hooked fangs formed by two confronted dragons.