2020-11-22 16:02:15
Inspiring the mind - Life of a scholar-official (christies.com)
Inspiring the mind - Life of a scholar-official
www.christies.com
AN EXCEPTIONAL AND VERY RARE BRONZE RITUAL OWL-FORM WINE VESSEL, XIAO YOU
LATE SHANG DYNASTY, 12TH-11TH CENTURY BC
The vessel is well cast in the form of two addorsed owls with plump bodies raised on four stout legs with splayed feet, and the sides are cast in soft relief with simplified wings sweeping back from the rounded breast to a pair of loops attached to the rope-twist swing handle. The domed cover is finely cast in crisp relief at each end as the head of an owl with upturned beak, domed circular eyes with recessed pupils, narrow, feather-detailed brows and small ears. Behind each head is a pair of confronted dragons with long snouts that flank the base of the finial which is divided into eight cicada segments. The bronze has a mottled dark grey and brown patina and malachite encrustation.
10 in. (25.5 cm.) high with handle, 8 in. (20.3 cm.) across
Provenance
A Japanese private collection, prior to 1998
Galerie Christian Deydier, Paris
Sold at Christie’s New York, 21-22 March 2013, lot 1220
