A large archaic bronze ritual food vessel and cover, gui Western Zhou dynasty | 西周 青銅獸耳龍紋蓋簋

Hartman Rare Art, New York.

哈特曼，紐約

Elevated on three legs and decorated with horizontal grooves, this vessel represents one of the archetypal examples of gui produced during the late Western Zhou period (c. 1046-771 BC). Among the gui with comparable motifs, however, the present lot is distinguished by the shape of the spiral horns on its handles and the paw feet. Inscriptions found on vessels of this type identify them as food containers used for sacrificial purposes.

Closely related examples can be found in important public collections, including two larger vessels, both with inscriptions but one without a cover, in the Palace Museum, Beijing (acc. nos 新 155097 and 新 142973), illustrated in Bronzes in the Palace Museum, Beijing, 1999, pls 191 and 193; and a smaller one, possibly unearthed in Shaanxi province, in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles (acc. no. M.89.136.12a-b). Compare also two other gui, both with a coiled dragon medallion at the center of the cover and an inscription on the interior, one sold in our London rooms, 15th April 1980, lot 12, the other in these rooms, 12th June 1984, lot 55.

Another closely related Western Zhou dynasty gui and cover sold in our New York rooms, 21st September 2021, lot 33. (https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2021/important-chinese-art-5/an-archaic-bronze-ritual-food-vessel-and-cover-gui).