AN ARCHAIC BRONZE RITUAL VESSEL (DING) LATE SHANG / EARLY WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY |

the deep U-shaped body supported on three columnar legs, the flattened everted rim set with two small upright loop handles, a band of kuilong encircling the vessel beneath the rim, their bodies comprised of hooked lines and leiwen and shown in 'split representation' centered by the face in profile with a large raised eye, the remainder of the exterior sides cast with a diagonal grid, each diamond-shaped unit with an individual leiwen border and centered with a conical boss, a single pictogram cast to the well, the sage-green patina with patches of malachite, dark gray and reddish-brown encrustations

Sotheby's London, 11th December 1979, lot 25.
Sotheby's London, 15th May 2008, lot 522. 

Liu Yu and Lu Yan, ed., Jinchu Yin Zhou jinwen jilu [Compilation of recently discovered bronze inscriptions], Beijing, 2002, pl. 192.
Wang Tao and Liu Yu, A Selection of Early Chinese Bronzes with Inscriptions from Sotheby's and Christie's Sales, Shanghai, 2007, pl. 25.
Wu Zhenfeng, Shangzhou qingtongqi mingwen ji tuxiang jicheng [Compendium of Inscriptions and Images of Bronzes from Shang and Zhou Dynasties], vol. 1, Shanghai, 2012, no. 00334.

The vessel is in overall good condition with only a short hairline crack to the rim by one of the handles, and minor loss to details from oxidation and cleaning (as illustrated). The dark-green splashes around the frieze on the exterior are probably later-added. X-rays are available upon request.
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.

Robustly cast with an attractive design of raised bosses, this type of distinctive 'diamond and boss' decoration appears to have been an innovation of the Anyang bronze foundries and very popular in the late Shang, based on the excavated examples of the period.  Most often seen on gui and yu, this motif is commonly found on round-bodied vessels.  For a further discussion on the decoration see Robert W. Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Washington D.C., 1987, pp 504-514. The striking surface decoration has been accentuated through the deliberate use of carbon, a practice common to Shang bronzes. A related ding, but of slightly smaller size and with cicadas cast below the rim, excavated in 1970 from Xioaning tun, Anyang, Henan province, and now in the collection of the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, is illustrated in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji, vol. 2, Beijing, 1997, pl. 26; and a larger version, and with blades cast onto the legs, in the Avery Brundage Collection, is included in Rene-Yvon Lefebvre-d’Argence, Ancient Chinese Bronzes in the Avery Brundage Collection,  Berkeley, 1966, pl. IV (right).

Ding vessels decorated with this design were more commonly cast with circles in place of the raised bosses; see one in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, illustrated in Bernard Kalgren, ‘New Studies on Chinese Bronzes’, Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, no. 9, 1937, pl. XXXII, fig. 132; another from the collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, published in Christian Deydier, Les Bronzes Chinois, Fribourg, 1980, pl. 14, sold in our London rooms, 3rd December 1963, lot 171, and again in these rooms, 19th March 1997, lot 2; and a third also sold in these rooms, 19th September 2001, lot 8. See also two related vessels excavated in the late Shang tomb of Fu Hao, a consort of King Wu Ding (r.1324-1265 BC), published in Tomb of Lady Hao at Yinxu in Anyang, Beijing, 1980, pl. XI, figs 1 and 2; and another excavated in 1985 from a tomb site near Anyang, Henan province, published in Zongguo qingtongqi quanji, op. cit., pl. 23.