AN EXCEPTIONAL AND HIGHLY IMPORTANT BRONZE RITUAL WINE VESSEL AND COVER,GONG LATE SHANG DYNASTY, ANYANG, 13TH-12TH CENTURY BC The deep vessel and conformingly shaped cover are finely cast as a fierce tiger at the front and an owl at the back, their heads at either end of the cover above their bodies that decorate the sides of the vessel. The head of the tiger has bared, square teeth and curved incisors, bulging eyes and upright, C-shaped ears. The owl's head has similar eyes encircled by feathers and a short, hooked beak positioned above two confronted birds below. The two heads are joined by a thin, notched flange that forms the elongated body of akuidragon that also separates two relief-castkuidragons that confront each other behind the owl's ears. The scroll-filled body of the tiger is cast in rounded relief and shown crouching as if ready to spring, its short forelegs raised on either side of the spout below small, intaglio dragons and its rear legs bent above the tall, oblong foot where the clawed feet and long, curled tail are detailed in front of the taloned feet of the owl. The owl's feet are positioned below its scroll-filled and relief-cast wings that sweep back from scale-like feathers on the chest from which projects a loop handle cast with D-shaped scales and capped by the head of a mythical beast with ram's horns and hooked beak above wings on the sides and a hooked terminal below. All of the decoration is reserved on variousleiwengrounds, and the vessel and cover have a mottled green patina with some areas of light encrustation. An inscription,wei,consisting of four footprints around a sanctuary enclosing ace(album or book), is cast in the center of the interior of the vessel. 11 ¾ in. (29.8 cm.) long
PROVENANCE
The collection of Captain S. N. Ferris Luboshez, USN (Ret'd) (1896-1984), acquired in China prior to 1949. Important Chinese Ceramics, Bronzes and Works of Art: The Collection of Captain S. N. Ferris Luboshez, USN (Ret'd); Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 18 November 1982, lot 12. Private collection, Switzerland, 1982-1996. J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 1996. The collection of Daniel Shapiro, New York.
LITERATURE
H. McNamee,Chinese Art from the Ferris Luboshez Collection, College Park, 1972, pp. 37-38, no. 10, fig. 16. Arts of Asia, Jane Tilley Griffin, "The Luboshez Collection", July-August 1972, p. 25. C. Deydier,Archaic Chinese Bronzes, I, Xia & Shang, Paris, 1995, p. 221, no. 3. J. J. Lally & Co.,Early Dynastic China, New York 1996, no. 44 and cover. D. Shapiro,Ancient Chinese Bronzes: A Personal Appreciation, London, 2013, pp. 68-75 and 133. J. J. Lally & Co.,Chinese Archaic Bronzes: The Collection of Daniel Shapiro, New York, 2014, no. 7.
EXHIBITED
College Park, Maryland, The University of Maryland Art Gallery,Chinese Art from the Ferris Luboshez Collection, 23 March - 30 April 1972, no. 10. New York, J. J. Lally & Co.,Early Dynastic China, 26 March - 26 April 1996, no. 44 New York, J. J. Lally & Co.,Chinese Archaic Bronzes: The Collection of Daniel Shapiro, 14 March - 5 April 2014, no. 7.
Price realised USD 8,604,000
Estimate USD 4,000,000 – USD 6,000,000
DETAILS
晚商 安陽時期 青銅饕餮紋方彝LATE SHANG DYNASTY, ANYANG, 12TH CENTURY BC
A VERY RARE BRONZE RITUAL WINE VESSEL AND COVER,FANGYI LATE SHANG DYNASTY, ANYANG, 12TH CENTURY BC The slightly tapering, rectangular vessel is cast in crisp, high relief on aleiwenground on each side with a largetaotiemask set between two confronted, long-tailed birds above and two dragons with backward-turned heads on either side of an arched opening on the foot below, all divided by narrow, notched flanges repeated at the corners and also on the cover where thetaotiemasks are inverted on each slightly convex side below the faceted finial. A single pictogram is cast in the interior base of the vessel and on one interior wall of the cover and may be read as a clan sign. The surface has a mottled blue-green and milky blue-green patination on a cuprite ground. 8 ¾ in. (22 cm.) high
PROVENANCE
The collection of Mr. & Mrs. Rafi Y. Mottahedeh, New York. Property from the Estate of Rafi Y. Mottahedeh (1901-1978), New York: Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 4 November 1978, lot 318. J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 1992. The collection of Daniel Shapiro, New York.
LITERATURE
J. J. Lally & Co., New York,Chinese Archaic Bronzes, Sculpture and Works of Art,New York, 1992, no. 21. D. Shapiro,Ancient Chinese Bronzes, A Personal Appreciation, London, 2013, pp. 86-91 and 136. J. J. Lally & Co., New York,Chinese Archaic Bronzes: The Collection of Daniel Shapiro, New York, 2014, no. 10 and cover.
EXHIBITED
New York, J. J. Lally & Co.,Chinese Archaic Bronzes Sculpture and Works of Art, 2 - 27 June 1992, no. 21. New York, J. J. Lally & Co.,Chinese Archaic Bronzes: The Collection of Daniel Shapiro,14 March - 5 April 2014, no. 10.
Price realised USD 1,110,000
Estimate USD 600,000 – USD 800,000
DETAILS
晚商 青銅饕餮紋瓿LATE SHANG DYNASTY, 13TH-12TH CENTURY BC
A BRONZE RITUAL WINE VESSEL,POU LATE SHANG DYNASTY, 13TH-12TH CENTURY BC The bulbous body is flat cast around the sides with a wide frieze of three largetaotiemasks formed by pairs of dragons with large eyes, scroll-filled bodies and raised tails confronted on a narrow flange, each mask bordered by slender descending dragons, below a band of nine dragons with rounded eyes, hooked beaks and coiled tails, all facing in the same direction, on the sloping shoulder below three bowstring bands that rise to the everted rim, the whole raised on a high, slightly flared foot encircled by a narrow band formed by three panels of scrolls below three apertures. The vessel has allover light malachite encrustation and some areas of brownish-grey patina. 13 in. (33 cm.) diam.
PROVENANCE
Private collection, Japan. Sotheby's London, 14 November 2001, lot 4. J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 2004. The collection of Daniel Shapiro, New York.
LITERATURE
D. Shapiro,AncientChinese Bronzes, A Personal Appreciation, London, 2013, pp. 92-95 and 137. J. J. Lally & Co.,Chinese Archaic Bronzes: The Collection of Daniel Shapiro, New York, 2014, no. 11.
EXHIBITED
New York, J. J. Lally & Co.,Chinese Archaic Bronzes: The Collection of Daniel Shapiro, 14 March- 5 April 2014, no. 11.
Price realised USD 237,500
Estimate USD 200,000 – USD 300,000
DETAILS
晚商 安陽時期 青銅饕餮紋觚LATE SHANG DYNASTY, ANYANG, 12TH-11TH CENTURY BC
A FINELY CAST BRONZE RITUAL WINE VESSEL,GU LATE SHANG DYNASTY, ANYANG, 12TH-11TH CENTURY BC The trumpet neck of the slender vessel is decorated with four elongated blades crisply cast in relief with a dissolvedtaotiemask on aleiwenground that rise from a narrow band of fourkuidragons with hooked beaks and upturned tails. The middle section and the spreading foot are each cast with twotaotiemasks divided and separated by notched flanges, the larger masks on the foot below a narrow band of four dragons with angular bodies, C-scroll ears and long snouts. The vessel has a rich, mottled patina of green and red color. Two graphs,yaX, are cast on the interior of the foot, and can be read as a clan sign. 12 in. (30.4 cm.) high
PROVENANCE
J. J. Lally & Co. New York, 1988. The collection of Daniel Shapiro, New York.
LITERATURE
J. J. Lally & Co.,Chinese Works of Art, New York, 1988, no. 31. D. Shapiro,Ancient Chinese Bronzes, A Personal Appreciation, London, 2013, pp. 48-51 and 129. J. J. Lally & Co.,Chinese Archaic Bronzes: The Collection of Daniel Shapiro, New York, 2014, no. 3.
EXHIBITED
New York, J. J. Lally & Co.,Chinese Works of Art, 27 May - 18 June 1988, no. 31. New York, J. J. Lally & Co.,Chinese Archaic Bronzes: The Collection of Daniel Shapiro, 14 March - 5 April 2014, no. 3.
Price realised USD 187,500
Estimate USD 80,000 – USD 120,000
晚商 青銅獸面紋貫耳壺 : LATE SHANG DYNASTY, 12TH CENTURY BC
細節
晚商 青銅獸面紋貫耳壺壺橢圓口，貫耳，橢圓腹垂鼓，圈足。頸飾一圈弦紋，肩前後各飾一獸面紋，每面有一短脊置中，左右各設乳釘成獸目，内飾顧首龍紋，弓身折尾，兩側靠耳處飾鳥紋，貫耳飾羊角獸面紋。高圈足微侈，飾一圈四道長尾鳳紋，短脊分居四面。青、赤、灰色銅鏽層次豐富，包漿古穆。13 ¾ in. (35 cm.) high
來源
於1985年購自澳門。 藍理捷, 紐約, 2003年。 Daniel Shapiro 珍藏, 紐約。
出版
藍理捷, Bronze and Gold in Ancient China, 紐約, 2003年, 編號 4號。 D. Shapiro, Ancient Chinese Bronzes: A Personal Appreciation, 倫敦, 2013年, 頁 58-61 及 131。 藍理捷, Chinese Archaic Bronzes: The Collection of Daniel Shapiro, 紐約, 2014年, 編號 5號。
展覽
紐約, 藍理捷, Bronze and Gold in Ancient China, 2003年3月24日-4月12日, 編號 4號。 紐約, 藍理捷, Chinese Archaic Bronzes: The Collection of Daniel Shapiro, 2014年3月14日-4月5日, 編號 5號。
