A RARE WHITE MARBLE VESSEL AND COVER (XU) EARLY SPRING AND AUTUMN PERIOD OR LATER |

of rectangular form with rounded corners raised on a tall splayed foot with a bracket-shaped opening on each side, carved around the sides with a wide band of formalized angular cloud motifs, interrupted by a pair of loop handles issuing from mythical beast heads, the domed cover of conforming shape similarly decorated and surmounted by four upright stepped feet, the interior of the vessel and cover carved in mirror image with a three-character inscription reading wei fu ren ('for the wife'), the stone speckled with black inclusions (2)

Collection of Jay C. Leff (1925-2000).
Parke-Bernet Galleries, 9th-10th May 1969, lot 267.
Sotheby Parke-Bernet, 1st June 1972, lot 20.
Nagatani, Inc., Chicago, 1st August 1972.
Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978). 

The vessel with restored breaks to one handle and to the side of the vessel near that handle; a crack from the rim; chips to the handles, rim and foot; and some loss of surface detail due to age and wear. The cover with restored breaks and losses to one corner; scattered chips; some loss of surface detail.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The present vessel has a closely related bronze counterpart of very similar shape and design, excavated in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, attributed to the early Spring and Autumn period, bearing a longer inscription with the first two characters (maker's name) since effaced, reading XX wei furen xingxu yongzheng yongxing maisui yongshang ('XX made this xu for the wife to be used for ten thousand years'), formerly in the collection of Liu Tizhi and Rong Geng, published in Wu Zhenfeng, ed., Shangzhou qingtongqi mingwen ji tuxiang jicheng [Compendium of Inscriptions and Images of Bronzes from the Shang and Zhou Dynasties], Shanghai, 2012, vol. 12, no. 05590, where the author noted there is an extant bronze ding with the same inscription, also missing the first two characters.

Stone wares made in the form of archaic bronze ritual vessel, such as the present xu and cover, are extremely rare, although examples of this type have been excavated, providing evidence of the existence of stone ritual vessels in Bronze Age China. See a jade ding, excavated from a tomb in Luoyang, Henan province, dated mid-Spring and Autumn period, inscribed with a three-character inscription to the shoulder reading gong ci ding ('bestowed by the duke'), published in Wu Zhenfeng, op. cit., no. 19701. The same tomb also yielded a bronze ding and two bronze he bearing the same inscription, which suggests they were made as a set. A further late Shang dynasty white marble dou and a green jade gui, excavated from Fu Hao's tomb, Henan province, are illustrated in National Museum of China, ed., Zhongguo guojia bowuguan guancang wenwu yanjiu congshu. yuqi juan / Studies of the Collections of the National Museum of China: Jade, Shanghai, 2007, pls 32 and 33.