Monochrome II
Monochrome II
AN ARCHAIC BRONZE WINE VESSEL, GU LATE SHANG DYNASTY, 12TH – 11TH CENTURY BC | 商末公元前十二至十一世紀 青銅獸面紋出戟亞牛丁觚 《亞牛丁觚》銘
Auction Closed
October 9, 06:06 AM GMT
Estimate
600,000 - 800,000 HKD
Lot Details
Description
AN ARCHAIC BRONZE WINE VESSEL, GU
LATE SHANG DYNASTY, 12TH – 11TH CENTURY BC
商末公元前十二至十一世紀 青銅獸面紋出戟亞牛丁觚
《亞牛丁觚》銘
the elegantly curved slender vessel resting on a tall foot-ring, crisply cast on the middle and lower sections with fine zoomorphic masks with prominent eyes, ears, horns centred on notched flanges, against a ground of intricate leiwen spiral, all below the tall trumpet neck decorated with shield blades filled with further masks rising from a band of angular serpents, the inner foot with an inscription probably reading Ya niu ding gu, the inner foot with an inscription probably reading Ya ding gu, wood stand and Japanese wood box
32 cm, 12 ½ in.
Yamanaka & Co., Ltd.
Collection of Mrs Christian R. Holmes (1871-1941).
Sotheby Parke-Bernet, New York, 14th/15th November 1963, lot 258.
Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo.
Hirano Kotoken, Tokyo.
山中商會
Christian R. Holmes 夫人（1871-1941年）收藏
紐約蘇富比1963年11月14/15日，編號258
繭山龍泉堂，東京
平野古陶軒，東京
Umehara Sueji, Shina Kodo Seika/Selected Relics of Ancient Chinese Bronzes from Collections in Europe and America, vol. 1, Osaka, 1933, cat. no. 53.
Selected Ancient Chinese Bronzes from the Collection of Mrs Christian R. Holmes, n.d.
Noel Barnard and Cheung Kwong-Yue, Rubbings and Hand Copies of Bronze Inscriptions in Chinese, Japanese, European, American, and Australasian Collections, Taipei, 1978, vol. 7, no. 1080.
梅原末治，《歐米蒐儲支那古銅精華》，卷1，大阪，1933年，編號53
《Selected Ancient Chinese Bronzes from the Collection of Mrs Christian R. Holmes》，年份不詳
巴納及張光裕，《中日歐美澳紐所見所拓所摹金文彙編》，卷7，台北，1978年，編號1080
The present gu is notable for its fine casting which creates an elegant silhouette and with its exquisite ornamentation, is typical of the final stage of the development in Anyang. This style is characterised by the high-raised motifs against the ground patterns. For the most refined examples such as the present piece, the main taotie masks are further detailed by intaglios and the background is interspersed with leiwen spirals.
A closely related gu from the Sackler Collection in the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Washington D.C., is discussed and illustrated in Robert W. Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collection, Washington, D.C., 1987, p. 255, no. 38; another similar gu vessel, unearthed in 2001 from Huayuanzhuang village, Anyang city, Henan province is illustrated in Yinxu xinchutu qingtongqi [Ritual bronzes recently excavated in Yinxu], Kunming, 2008, p. 152, no. 62; and another example with a pictogram of the clan li dao from the collection of H.E. Alexandre J. Argyropoulos, included in Jean-Pierre Dubosc, Mostra d'Arte Cinese, Venice, 1954, cat. no. 6, was sold in our New York rooms, 17th September 2013, lot 1.