An archaic bronze ritual steamer (Yan), Early Western Zhou dynasty | 西周 伯作旅甗

An archaic bronze ritual steamer (Yan)

Early Western Zhou dynasty

西周初 伯作旅甗

the body composed of a lower section divided into three bulbous lobes tapering to three columnar feet, each lobe cast with a large bovine mask with thick horns, protruding eyes and fanged mouth, rising to a deep U-form bowl encircled by three taotie masks each centered with a vertical flange, all below a flared rim surmounted by a pair of arched 'rope-twisted' loop handles, cast to the interior mouth with a four-character inscription translating to 'Bo made this traveling vessel', the interior set with a bronze plate separating the vessel sections, the surface with malachite encrustation (2)

銘文：

伯作旅彝

Height 15⅞ in., 40.3 cm