An inscribed archaic bronze ritual wine vessel (Jue), Late Shang dynasty | 商末 乙邑爵

Rare Arts, Inc., New York, 1975.

J.T. Tai & Co., New York.

Sotheby's New York, 20th March 2012, lot 11.

Rare Arts, Inc.，紐約，1975年

戴潤齋，紐約

紐約蘇富比2012年3月20日，編號11

The present jue represents an archetypal form of bronze vessel used to hold and warm up wine in ritual ceremonies during the late Shang dynasty (c. 1600-1046 BC). The flanges around its body are notable, providing additional decorative elements to this attractive goblet. Beneath the handle is a pictogram cast on the body of the vessel, signifying either the name of a location or a clan. Vessels of this type are well represented in important museums worldwide, such as one preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, and illustrated in the Museum’s Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Shang and Chou Dynasty. Bronze Wine Vessels, Taipei, 1989, cat. no. 8, where the vessel is likened to a jue excavated from tomb no. 4 in Dasikong village, Anyang, Henan province. See another in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession no. 49.135.15), included in the Museum’s exhibition Arts of Ancient China, New York, 2005 and a further example preserved in the British Museum, London (accession no. 1935,0115.22), included in the Museum’s exhibition Ritual and Revelry: The Art of Drinking in Asia, London, 2012-3.