An archaic bronze ritual tripod food vessel (ding) Late Shang dynasty, 12th / 11th Century BC

the lobed body raised on three columnar feet issuing from three taotie masks symmetrically centered on shaped lobes and vertical flanges, each formed from raised bosses for eyes and hooked scrolls accented with intaglio lines to the center, all reserved on a leiwen ground, below a small band of confronting gui dragon zoomorphs and a pair of upright arch handles set on the rim, the light gray patina with malachite encrustation

Acquired by the present owner in the early 1990s; prior to that, on the Japanese art market in the early 1980s.

Min Chiu Society exhibition, 1999 - 2000.
Hong Kong Museum of Art, 2001 - 2006.

There appears to be a restuck triangular 3 cm chip to the rim (to the right of the center flange in the catalogue photograph). There is also a 1 cm filled crack to the rim and a filled stress crack to one of the legs (far back leg in the catalogue photograph), but there might be repairs to the other two legs (not visible under UV light). However, the casting on the ding is very crisp and clear and the breaks are standard and expected for pieces of this period. The ding is in good overall condition with patches of malachite and cuprite encrustation.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

A very closely related ding of this type often referred to as liding, with the body slightly pointed towards the three legs, from the C.T. Loo collection, Paris, is illustrated in Michel Beurdeley, 'Les bronzes archaiques chinois', Connaissance des Arts, August, 1957, pp. 3, 54-59 and front cover, and was later on loan in the San Antonio Museum of Art, and sold at Christie's New York, 21st March 1997, lot 289. Compare also a vessel of similar form and design but  with additional decoration on the three legs, illustrated in Pope, Gettings, Cahill and Barnard (ed.), The Freer Chinese Bronzes, vol.1, Washington, 1967, p. 176, pl. 31, where the piece is attributed to the late Anyang period of the Shang dynasty for the strong and fully integrated taotie masks in relief and the prominent flanges.

Further examples of related ding can be found illustrated in Mayuyama, Seventy Years, vol. 2, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 6; in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, published in the museum's Handbook of the Collections, New York, 1993, p. 274; and in the Shanghai Museum, included in Zhongguo wenwu jinghua daquan: Qingtong juan, Shanghai, 1994, pl. 27, also of the late Shang dynasty.