An exceptionally rare archaic bronze ritual pouring vessel (He), Eastern Zhou dynasty, Spring and Autumn period | 東周 春秋 青銅獸面紋龍流盉

An exceptionally rare archaic bronze ritual pouring vessel (He)

Eastern Zhou dynasty, Spring and Autumn period

東周 春秋 青銅獸面紋龍流盉

finely cast with the body divided into three lobes each rising from a slender leg and decorated on each side with a powerful high-relief taotie mask composed of detached elements including phoenix forming the tail and small dragons defining the horns, the shoulder encircled with a narrow border of sinuous scrollwork, repeated around the neck below the flared rim, the long, gently curved slender neck terminating in a dragon mask forming the spout opposite the loop handle issuing from a bovine head

Length 14⅛ in., 35.8 cm