An archaic bronze ritual vessel and cover, You, Early Western Zhou dynasty | 西周初 青銅卣

The minimalist surface decoration and graceful form of this piece are typical of the early stage of the bronze development during the early Western Zhou dynasty. Bronze you, which were used as wine containers at ancestral rituals, emerged as one of the major ceremonial receptacles in the late Shang dynasty and remained prominent until the mid-Western Zhou dynasty. Other bronze wine vessels and covers of this type include one formerly in the collections of Qing Court and renowned bronze connoisseur, Wu Dacheng (1835-1902), and now in the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, the drawing of which is illustrated in Wu Zhenfeng, Shangzhou qingtongqi mingwen ji tuxiang jicheng [Compendium of inscriptions and images of bronzes from the Shang and Zhou dynasties], vol. 5, Shanghai, 2012, no. 12723; and another vessel of similar form, excavated from Zhengding, Hebei province in 1982, ibid, no. 12727.