AN ARCHAIC BRONZE RITUAL WINE VESSEL (GU) SHANG DYNASTY |

of tall slender waisted form, the trumpet neck flaring to a wide mouth, finely cast with four tapering blades extending to the rim, each containing a disjointed taotie mask above a narrow band of confronted serpent motifs, the central section cast with two horned taotie masks bisected by notched flanges all reserved in relief on a leiwen ground, the gently spreading foot similarly decorated below a narrow band of confronted horned mythical beasts below a raised bow string border with two cruciform apertures, the patina of an overall silver-green with some encrustation, a single shield-shaped pictogram inside the foot, Japanese wood box (3)

Hirano Koto-ken, Tokyo, May 1981.

In good general condition with the exception of a restored crack encircling the ribs below the central register, possibly suggesting the foot off and reattached; a patch of restoration to the left of one of the flanges on the neck, possibly a patch to an original casting hole, with a short associated crack extending onto the flange; the other side of the same flange with a small patch to exterior only. The surface cleaned and lightly polished in parts. The number 6637 inscribed in red to the interior base, near the pictogram.
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.

Remarkable for its tall, elegant shape and complex high-relief decoration with leiwen spirals, this gu is an outstanding example of the late Shang dynasty (16th century- c. 1050 BC) bronze casting style. Bronze gu, used as sacrificial wine receptacles, are known throughout the Shang dynasty, but it was in the late Shang period when bronze casting reached a new height that the vessel attained its final striking form. Gu, at first, were short and stout with simple taotie designs merely suggested by eyes amidst linear decoration, yet the refinement of shape and ornamentation steadily took place as the foundries’ technique gained in skill and experience. By the time the Shang capital had moved from Zhengzhou to Anyang in Henan province, between 1400 and 1350 BC, gu of taller, more graceful proportions with intricate main and secondary taotie designs and other animal motifs had entered the foundries’ repertoire. The raised parts and the additions of pronounced flanges to the foot and middle sections, en vogue during the late Shang period, dramatically changed the vessel’s silhouette, giving it its distinctive sculptural appearance.

The inscription located inside the foot resembles an emblem known from various other vessels, see Robert W. Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Washington D. C. and Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1987, p. 507, fig. 98.4 for a yu with a very similar pictogram and no. 28 with a more simplified version, where it is stated that both variants are usually taken to depict a wine vessel.

Bronze gu of similar design and size are illustrated and discussed ibid., nos 36-7; see also no. 38 where excavated gu of this design with leiwen-covered raised parts are listed. Another gu discovered at Huayuanzhang village near Anyang is illustrated in Yinxu xinchutu qingtongqi [Ritual bronzes recently excavated in Yinxu], Kunming, 2008, p. 152, no. 62.

Two gu of this type are in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji [Complete series on Chinese bronzes], Beijing, 1997, vol. 2, no. 122, and in the Atami Art Museum, Atami, published in Seiichi Mizuno, Bronzes and Jades of Ancient China, Tokyo, 1959, no. 38.

Compare also a gu, reputedly also from Anyang, from the collections of T. Y. King, H. E. Alexandre J. Argyropoulos and Julius Eberhardt sold in these rooms, 17th September, 2013, lot 1.