AN ARCHAIC BRONZE RITUAL TRIPOD VESSEL AND COVER, GUI WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY

the compressed globular body raised on three short taotie-mask legs, cast around the body with five concentric convex vertical ribs and bands of over-lapping scales at the ring foot and neck, set to each side with C-shaped handles issuing from tusked masks and suspending a pendant tab,  the slightly domed cover similarly cast with convex ribs and scales and with a large recessed knop finial,  the interior of the vessel and underside of the cover cast with the same fourteen-character inscription, the bronze with a mottled green patina with traces of cuprite encrustation

Collection of Horatio Seymour.
Christie's London, 5^th June 1995, lot 55.

(The inscription) San Dai Ji Jin Wen Cun. Collection of Chinese Bronzes from the Three Dynasties, Beijing, 1937, Vol. 7., p. 36.
Zhen Song Tang Ji Gu Yiwen, Beijing, 1931, Vol.5, p. 24.

Both the vessel and cover in very good general condition. The form of the vessel slightly warped and visibly leaning to one side. Small chips to all the rims. The knop finial to cover with numerous small chips, the largest measuring approximately 5mm wide. The cover with a crack visible to interior, possibly from impact, and associated dent visible to exterior, measuring approximately 25mm by 7mm. General surface wear as consistent with bronzes of this age. The surface almost consistently covered with a smooth speckled malachite encrustation, with speckled areas of cuprite encrustation, visibly removed to reveal the two inscriptions.
"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 fourteen character inscription on the present gui may be translated as follows:

Bo Jia Fu made and presented to his first-born daughter on her wedding this gui, so that her children and grand-children may put to precious use eternally.

An almost identical gui, perhaps the pair to the present piece, was sold at Christie's New York, 6^th June 1985, lot 92; and another, lacking its cover, was sold at Christie's London, 19^th June 1967, lot 164. See a third example of similar size, form and decoration, also bearing a fourteen-character long dedicatory inscription, sold in these rooms, 6^th December 1994, lot 7.

A gui attributed to the late Western Zhou period of similar form and ribbed decoration but the cover of more rounded domed form is illustrated in Jessica Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collection, vol. II, Cambridge, Mass., 1990, pl. 57, together with another related example, fig. 57.3 known as the Shu Xiang Fu Yu gui. Other vessels of this type were among a hoard found at Shaochencun, Fufeng county, Shaanxi province, published in line drawings by Jessica Rawson, Chinese Bronzes. Art and Ritual, London, 1987, fig. 18, with one of them illustrated in Five Thousand Years of Chinese Art, Shang Chou Dynasty Bronze VIII, Kuei Vessels, Taipei, 1989, pl. 47 and p. 163, fig. 105.