

PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED NEW YORK PRIVATE COLLECTION
Bronze lei of this type cast with inscriptions are rare. See a related lei, discovered from a late Shang dynasty hoard in Beidong village, Liaoning province, published in 'Liaoning Kazuoxian Beidongcun faxian Yindai qingtongqi' [Yin dynasty bronze discovered in Beidong village, Kazuo county, Liaoning province], Kaogu, no.4, Beijing, pl. 7, fig 1, together with four others, but without inscription, pl. 6, fig. 3 and pl. 7, figs 2, 3, and 4; one inscribed with two characters, in the Sumitomo Collection, published in Sen-Oku Hakuko Kan: Sumitomo Collection [Ancient Art from the Sumitomo collection], Kyoto, 2002, pl. 115; another in the Shaanxi Provincial Museum, illustrated in Zhongguo wenwu jinghua Daquan [Compendium of Chinese bronzes], Taipei, 1993, p. 35, no. 123; and a fourth inscribed with six characters, published in Li Xueqin, Zhongguo meishu quanji. Gongyi meishu bian 4 Qingtongqi shang [Complete collection of Chinese arts. Decorative arts no. 4. Archaic bronzes], vol. 1, Beijing, 1985, pl. 80.
For other uninscribed examples, see one attributed to the late Shang to early Western Zhou period, in the Meiyintang Collection, published in Wang Tao, Chinese Bronzes from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 2009, pl. 52; another formerly in the Sakamoto Collection, illustrated in Sakamoto Collection. Chinese Ancient Ritual Bronzes, Nara, 2002, pl. 83; and two sold in these rooms, one attributed to the Western Zhou period, first sold 23rd March 2004, lot 582, then 18th September 2007, lot 181, and the second from the J.T. Tai Collection, sold 22nd March 2011, lot 46.