AN ARCHAIC BRONZE RITUAL FOOD VESSEL (GUI) EARLY WESTERN ZHOU, 11TH / 10TH CENTURY BC

cast with a deep 'U'-shaped body, the sides decorated with large taotie masks bisected by a vertical flange and flanked by a pair of loop handles surmounted by bovine heads and ending in hooked tabs, all supported on a tall pedestal foot decorated with a band of confronting sinewy dragons, the raised decoration all reserved against a leiwen ground, the smooth surfaces with attractive green and dark red patina, the interior cast with a five-character inscription reading Bo Gong zuo bao gui (Bo Gong had this precious vessel made)

J.J. Lally & Co., New York.

Under optical, ultraviolet (UV) light and x ray examination the vessel is in overall good condition with a couple of chaplets on the base. The inscription possibly later added.
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 similar gui was excavated from a Western Zhou cemetery at Zhuyuangou near Baoji in Shaanxi province ans is illustrated in Wenwu, 1983, no. 2. pl. 2, fig. 2 with rubbings of the main design, p. 8, fig. 25:2, another from the collection of Axel Jonsson, Gothenburg was included in the exhibition Early Chinese Bronzes, Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, 1993, pl. XI, fig. 1; and a third was included in the exhibition Ancient Chinese Bronzes Yamanaka & Co., London 1925, cat. no. 8, pl. X.  Compare also a closely related gui in the Shannxi Provincial Museum, illustrated in Zhongguo Wenwu jinghuan daquan, Qingtong juan, Hong Kong, 1994, pl. 0346; and three vessels, one sold in our London rooms from the Harcourt Johnston collection, 13th June 1940, lot 109 and again 15th July 1980, lot 194, and two sold in these rooms one from the Ellsworth collection, 19th March 2002, lot 15 and another sold 22nd September, 2004. See also a related example  from the collection of Sir Peter Moores sold in our London rooms 9th November, 2011, lot 381.