A RARE ARCHAIC BRONZE RITUAL FOOD VESSEL, YAN EARLY WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY

the deep U-shaped body cast with two horizontal ribs and rising to a flaring rim set with two upright loop handles, all supported on a high tripod base, divided into three lobes, each crisply cast with a bovine taotie mask bearing raised oval bosses for eyes and curved horns, tapering to slender waisted legs, the interior with a five-character inscription in a single column above a triangular plate pierced with crosses separating the steamer sections and secured with a hook emerging as a boss on the exterior wall, the bronze with a silvery patina with patches of malachite encrustation, carved wood stand

Sotheby's London, 14^th November 2000, lot 5.

Hayashi Minao, In Shû jidai seidôki no kenkyû. , In Shû seidôki sôran, vol.I, Tokyo, 1984, p. 77, no. 56.

(the inscription only) Noel Barnard and Cheung Kwong-Yue, Rubbings and Hand Copies of Bronze Inscriptions in Chinese, Japanese, European, America and Australasian Collections,  vol. 7, Taipei, 1978,, no. 750.

Several chips and nicks across the surface, the largest measuring circa 1.5 x 0.4cm, minor surface scratchings, extensive malachite encrustations and traces of cuprite at the handles and the feet.
"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."

The inscription on the present yan reads and may be translated as follows:

Liao Bo zuo shang yi,
Liao Bo made this ritual vessel

Vessels of this type were made from the late Shang period into the Western Zhou dynasty. Generally cast with two handles and with a pierced bottom above a lobed tripod, yan were used during ritual ceremonies for seaming food. The present example, finely cast with horned bovine masks on the lower part and bow-strings below the flared rim, represents perhaps the most classic version of the type. Yan of this form seem to have been particularly widely used during the early Western Zhou period, and towards the end of the Western Zhou when they were increasingly replaced by steamers of rectangular form on four legs.

A number of related examples are from Shaanxi province, but similar vessels have also been discovered in other regions. A similar yan, excavated in 1896 at Laiyang, Huang county, Shandong province and now in the Sumitomo collection in the Senoku Hakkokan, Tokyo, is illustrated in Osvald Siren, Histoire des Arts Anciens de la Chine, Paris, 1929, vol. 1, fig. 4, and vol. II, pl. 25B; another from Beipocun, Long County, Shaanxi province, is published in Five Thousand Years of Chinese Art. Shang Chou Dynasty Bronze VI: Yen and Ho Vessels, Taipei, 1990, pl. 16 and fig. 32.

A related yan, but with a band of three taotie composed of long-tailed zoomorphs cast in thin lines below the flared mouthrim, excavated from an early Western Zhou tomb at Gaojiabao, Jingyang county, Shaanxi province, is included in Wenwu, 1972, no. 7, p. 8, fig. 10; one from the collection of Robert H. Ellsworth, was sold in our New York rooms, 19th March 2002, lot 19; and a third of slightly smaller proportions, was also sold in our New York rooms, 19th September 2002, lot 3.