Beschreibung:

A BRONZE RITUAL WINE VESSEL, GU
LATE SHANG DYNASTY, ANYANG, 12TH CENTURY BC
A BRONZE RITUAL WINE VESSEL, GU LATE SHANG DYNASTY, ANYANG, 12TH CENTURY BC The tall, slender vessel is crisply cast in low relief on the trumpet-shaped neck with four blades filled with inverted masks above a narrow band of angular snakes, and on the center section and the spreading foot with taotie masks divided and separated by notched flanges. Those on the foot are set below two pairs of confronted dragons. The elements of the decoration are cast with leiwen and reserved on leiwen grounds. The bronze has a mottled milky green patina and some areas of malachite encrustation. 12 5/8 in. (32 cm.) high, two Japanese wood boxes