Two archaic bronze ritual food vessels (Gui), Western Zhou dynasty | 西周 青銅簋 一組兩件

Similar gui decorated with a single of band of four kui dragons with slightly raised eyes on a ground of leiwen, each side with a small animal mask in high relief, and kui dragons encircling the foot, include two examples in the collection of Arthur M. Sackler, published in Jessica Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Washington D.C., 1990, p. 415, nos 50-51, where the author notes that these types of gui vessels are more common in the early Western Zhou period. Compare also the Hu Gui, dated to the 10th century BC and inscribed with a dedicatory inscription celebrating the ennoblement of Hu on the bingwu day of the fourth month, sold in our New York rooms 17th March 2015, lot 109; and another gui of the same design, also sold in our New York rooms, 16th September 2014, lot 123, from the Xu chuanjing (late 19th century) and the collection of Mary Anna Marten (1929-2010). Although vessels of this type could often have been cast in multiples, it is very rare for a pair to have survived together.