IMPORTANT RÉCIPIENT RITUEL EN BRONZE, GUI DÉBUT DE LA DYNASTIE DES ZHOU DE L'OUEST, XIE-XE SIÈCLE AVANT J.-C. |

reposant sur un haut pied circulaire évasé décoré de paires de dragons kui, la panse profonde et arrondie se prolongeant par des bords évasés flanqués d'une paire de anses ajourées en forme de « C » émergeant de têtes de bovins et se terminant par des ornements géométriques retombants en talons ornés de queues frisées, la panse ornée de chaque côté de larges masques de taotie aux yeux protubérants sous des cornes saillantes en forme de « C », divisés par des arêtes centrales et encadrés de dragons renversés, sous une frise alternée de rosaces décorées de spirales et de dragons kui, la douce patine grisâtre ponctuée de tâches d’incrustations verdâtres Ce lot est vendu à la suite d'un accord transactionnel intervenu entre le propriétaire actuel et les héritiers de Jakob and Rosa Oppenheimer

Dr. Otto Burchard & Co., Berlin, until 1935.
Acquired from Galerie Jacques Barrere, 11th July 1986 (according to a private correspondence).
The Sze Yuan Tang Collection, Hong Kong.
Acquired from Anthony Hardy, Hong Kong, 13th March 1988, by the father of the present owner (according to a private correspondence).

Die Bestaende der Firma Dr. Otto Burchard & Co., in Liquidation. Chinesische Kunst, I. Teil, Beschreibungen von L. Reidemeister. Versteigerung 140 am 22. und 23. Maerz 1935, Berlin, Paul Graupe, 1935, cat. no. 276. 

The x-rays show that the gui is in overall good condition. There is very light wear to the surface which has a lovely soft and smooth patina with patches of green and dark grey. The vessel is leaning to one side.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This well-cast archaic bronze vessel first appeared on the Berlin art market in 1935 in a sale liquidating the contents of the gallery bearing the name of its original founder Dr. Otto Burchard (1892-1965) and known as Dr. Otto Burchard & Co. Founded in 1927 by Burchard as part of the Markgraf Concern, an art trading company, the gallery was acquired by Jakob and Rosa Oppenheimer in 1929 before the contents were sold in a series of sales in 1934 and 1935. By that time, Otto Burchard had relocated and settled in Beijing where he had established himself as a dealer in Chinese art. Although his name is best known as the host of the First International Dada Fair in Berlin in 1920, his reputation as a purveyor of Chinese art to important international art dealers and museums is well known. Operating in China in the late 1920s and 1930s, Burchard supplied Theodor Bohlken, owner of the art gallery China Bohlken in Berlin, and Edgar Worch, based in Berlin and Paris, with pieces sourced directly on the art market in China. With a degree in sinology and a thesis on Chinese painting, Burchard had an eye for quality and a passion for early Chinese art, acquiring and selling archaic bronzes, sculpture, early ceramics and paintings.

The present archaic ritual food vessel appears in the 1935 sale catalogue opposite another archaic bronze vesesl gui (F1938.20) now in the collection of the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C . (Fig. 2). Both vessels ended up in different collections after the sale, with the Freer gui being sold to the Freer Gallery of Art by C.T. Loo & Company while the present gui found its way long after into the collection of Anthony Hardy in Hong Kong before being acquired by the father of the present owner in the mid to late 1980s.