An oustanding and important large archaic bronze wine vessel (zun) early Western Zhou dynasty, 11th / 10th century BC

robustly cast of cylindrical form, the waisted vessel with flared pedestal foot and wide trumpet mouth, crisply cast in relief with a pair of large taotie masks around the slightly bulging mid-section and tall foot, below upright lappet blades enclosing deconstructed birds, emerging from a register of confronting gui dragons collaring the neck, all reserved on a fine leiwen ground and centered on prominent hooked flanges on four sides, the base with a three character inscription reading Ya Fu Gui, covered with malachite encrustation

Acquired by the present owner in the late 1980s; prior to that, on the Hong Kong art market in the early 1980s.

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

The foot on the vessel is a little warped causing the vessel to wobble a little. It appears that about 1/4 of the mouth of the vessel and a 1/4 section of the foot (around the cast inscription) is repaired. The repairs are not visible under UV light. A couple of the flanges and tips of the flanges are also repaired. The malachite encrustation is thicker near the foot. The overall condition is still good and comensurate with age and burial.
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.

The pictogram consists of graph fu (father) and the cyclical graph gui within the ya xing ('ya' form).

The present zun is remarkable for its strikingly prominent notched flanges and dense ornamentation with an additional design band between the neck and central bulb, which are rare on comparable pieces. Three vessels of this type attributed to the early Western Zhou period, with similar notched flanges, are illustrated in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji, vol. 5, Beijing, 1996, pl. 152, in the Baoji City Museum, and pls. 153 and 154, both in the Zhouyuan Museum. Another from Zhuangbai, Fufeng, Shaanxi province, and one from the Winthrop Collection in the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, Mass., are published in Jessica Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Washington, 1990, vol.IIA, figs. 5 and 83. Another related vessel with distinct notched flanges was offered in these rooms, 21st June 2006, lot 146.

Compare two slightly earlier zun with straight flanges and a related design in low-relief, excavated at Dayuan, Chang'an, Shaanxi province and now in the Xi'an Municipal Institute for the Protection of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, illustrated op.cit., vol. 4, 1998, pl. 125; and another in the Shanghai Museum, attributed to the late Shang period, published in Chen Peifen, Xia Shang Zhou qingtongqi yanjiu, Xia and Shang section, vol.2, pl.145. 

Compare also a zun of similar size and shape, also with a design band below the cicada blades on the neck, sold in our London rooms, 14th November 1001, lot 3; and another zun with flanges and the cicada blade design on the neck, in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, published in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji,  vol. 3, Beijing, 1997, pl. 106.