A massive bronze archaistic vessel (Lei), 17th / 18th century

San Francisco Private Collection.

This vessel is remarkable for its impressive size and exceptional casting quality, and is an exemplary example of later bronzework created during a period when archaism was advocated and reinterpreted. This vessel is clearly inspired by the late Shang dynasty archaic ritual bronze form lei, which was used as a wine container during ceremonies. See, for example, a late Shang dynasty lei of a related form, excavated in Shaanxi province in 1959, now preserved in Shaanxi Provincial Museum, Xi'an, published in Ma Chengyuan ed., Zhongguo wenwu jinghua daquan: qingtong juan / The Quintessence of Chinese Cultural Relics: Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1994, p. 35, no. 0123. While several archaistic bronze lei of this type have appeared at auction, none, however, matches the present vessel in size. Compare a similar archaistic bronze lei of a much smaller size (h. 48.2 cm), sold at Christie's New York, 16th March 2015, lot 3289; another with gold and silver inlay (48 cm), sold in our London rooms, 31st October 1986, lot 263; and a third (h. 61.6 cm), from a New York private collection, sold in these rooms, 18th September 2007, lot 99.