A Rare Bronze Ritual Food Vessel, Fangding

LATE SHANG DYNASTY (12TH-11TH CENTURY B.C.)

the rectangular body cast raised on four cylindrical legs, each side cast with a taotie mask separated by a flange, all against a leiwen ground, the rim surmounted by a pair of upright loop handles, one interior wall cast with an inscription depicting two kneeling figures flanking a ritual vessel above a gui character; together with a copy of Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Robert W. Bagley, The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, 1987.

Height 8 x width 6 3/4 x depth 5 1/4 inches.

Property from a Private Chicago Collection Provenance: Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Including Property from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Christie's New York, March 25-26, 2010, sale 2405/2297, lot 1003 Acquired prior to 1966 Literature: R.W. Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, 1987, pp. 472-5. no. 88 N. Barnard and Cheung Kwong-yue, Rubbings and Hand Copies of Bronze Inscriptions in Chinese, Japanese, European, American and Australasian Collections, Taipei, 1978, no. 1300 (inscriptions only) R. Poor, Bronze Ritual Vessels of Ancient China, New York, 1968

Height 20.3cm x width 17.1cm x depth 13.3cm Weight 3.45kg Overall in decent condition. The surface with expected general wear and varying layers of malachite encrustation, ranging from bright green to gray green.

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Annie Wu

Senior Vice President, Head of Department, Asian Art

[email protected]312.447.3260

Ms. Wu joined the firm in 2014, after working as a specialist in the Asian Works of Art Department of an East Coast auction house. She researches, appraises, and sells Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, and South East Asian works of art, including jades, bronzes, ceramics, paintings, armor, and furniture. Throughout her career, Ms. Wu has achieved record prices for several prominent estates and collections, including the Estate of Frank G. Mertes, Sr., Winona, Minnesota; the Chinese Painting Collection of Ms. Yuan Jiaying and Mr. Li Guoyuan, Chicago; the Estate of Hisazo Nagatani, Chicago, and the Asian Art Collection deaccessioned from the Strong Museum of Play, Rochester, New York.

Flora Zhang

Specialist, Asian Works of Art

[email protected]312.447.3290

Megan Sadler

Associate Specialist, Asian Works of Art

[email protected]312.600.6066

Asian Works of Art

A Rare Bronze Ritual Food Vessel, Fangding

LATE SHANG DYNASTY (12TH-11TH CENTURY B.C.)

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