An inscribed bronze ritual food vessel, gui, Early Western Zhou dynasty | 西周早期 青銅獸面紋簋

Gui of this type and with such composition of decorative friezes had gained popularity throughout the early and middle Western Zhou period, and were discovered in a large number with various formations of design elements. An early Western Zhou-dynasty gui with slightly different designs of the foot and the top joints of the handles was excavated in Xianyang, Shaanxi in 1991, was, however, decorated with similar friezes compared to the present lot, except for the top band. See Li Boqian ed., The Complete Collection of Bronzes Unearthed in China, Shaanxi, I, Beijing, 2018, vol. 15, pl. 207. Compare also gui excavated in Xinyang, Henan in 1986, also with different design of the handles’ top joint, but with similar foot, patterns of the top frieze, and the mask design of the central band, published in See Li Boqian ed., The Complete Collection of Bronzes Unearthed in China, Henan, I, Beijing, 2018, vol. 9, pl. 251. See also a gui with different foot in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, accession number 1978.526.2. A further example with a similar form, but a different design of the top frieze, is in the Palace Museum, Taipei, accession number故銅002352N000000000.

A few such gui of the Western Zhou dynasty had appeared in the market. Compare a closely related one sold in our Paris rooms, 11th December 2018, lot 75. Compare further a recently sold gui without the top frieze, but with a dragon roundel cast to the base, sold in our New York rooms, 20th September 2022, lot 22.