AN ARCHAIC BRONZE RITUAL WINE VESSEL, DING LATE SHANG DYNASTY, 12TH/11TH CENTURY BC

set upon crisply cast 'gui dragon' blade legs with sharply curling tails forming the legs, the hemispherical body rising to an everted rim set with two squared arch handles, cast around the sides with a single register consisting of three taotie masks, each mask with a pair of slit-boss eyes centred on a flange, with a pictograms cast to the interior below the rim, the grey patina with malachite encrustation

Collection of Martin Fischer, German Consul General in Shanghai, 1938

This rare vessel has two triangular sections (one ca. 4.5x5cm., the other circa 2x1cm.) broken out of the rim to the left of one handle and restuck (old restoration), restoration to breaks across the upper and lower sections of one leg, restoration to a break across the upper section of another leg and probable restoration/ replacement to the bottom circa 3cm., of the leg, a 2cm., wide restoration to a missing section of the bottom edge of the rim, two small dents to the rim, and light scratches.
"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."

Ding with these striking blade feet are rare, but even rarer are those with flanges on the body, although a related piece with six small projecting flanges was sold at Christie's London, 15th June 1998, lot 37. See also a vessel in the Fujii Yurinkan, Kyoto, illustrated in Robert W. Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Cambridge, Mass., 1987, p. 432, fig. 77.5, together with three further examples of ding lacking the flanges on the body, one in the Nanjing Museum, fig. 80.3, one in the Shanghai Museum, fig. 80.4 and a third from the Arthur M. Sackler collection, pl. 81.

Compare also a ding with striking dragon-shaped legs, which appear to have been made from the middle to late Anyang period to the early Western Zhou, included in Shang Ritual Bronzes in the National Palace Museum Collection, Taipei, 1998, pl. 20; and another related vessel, excavated at Qijiazhuang near Anyang in Henan province, illustrated in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji, vol. 2, Beijing, 1997, pl. 54.

See also a piece from one of the Western Zhou cemeteries at Baoji in Shaanxi province, published in Lu Liancheng and Hu Zhisheng, Baoji Yu guo mudi/ Yu State Cemeteries in Baoji, vol. 1, Beijing, 1988, p. 52, fig. 38, and vol. 2, pl. 17, fig. 1. Another ding from the collection of Sir Herbert and Lady Ingram, included in the Exhibition of Chinese Art, Palazzo Ducale, Venice, 1954, cat. no. 37, was sold in our London rooms, 11th December 1990, lot 13.