The Ce Gao Ding Jue, Late Shang dynasty | 商末 冊告丁爵

Japanese Private Collection. 

Christie's New York, 20th September 2005, lot 148. 

日本私人收藏

紐約佳士得2005年9月20日，編號148

Striking for its powerful visual presence with high-relief design and extremely crisp casting, the present jue is an outstanding example of ritual bronze vessels created during the late Shang dynasty (c. 1600-1046 BC). It is a testament to the masterful craftsmanship of the bronze artisans from the peak of China's bronze age. In ancient China, bronze jue were used to hold and warm wine in ritual ceremonies performed by nobility. A vessel as finely made as the present jue was undoubtedly reserved for some of the most prestigious aristocrats at that time.

This jue is cast with a three-character inscription reading Ce Gao Ding. Ding is likely the name of the owner who made this bronze. Ce Gao could be the name of the clan, to which Ding belonged, or it could possibly be the official or hereditary title of Ding. Two other bronzes inscribed with the two-character inscription, Ce Gao, have been recorded. One is the well-known late Shang dynasty bronze you from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, now in the National Museum of Asian Art, Washington, D.C., published in Robert W. Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Washington, D.C., 1987, pl. 62. The other is a gui, excavated at Yinxu in 1994, illustrated in The Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Anyang Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, ed., Yinxu xinchutu qingtongqi [Recently excavated bronzes from Yinxu], Kunming, 2008, pl. 96.

A remarkable feature on this jue is the decoration of the upright lappets enclosing pendent cicadas, which is a rare design for vessels of this type. Compare a related late Shang dynasty bronze jue with a similar design, in the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, published in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji [Complete series on Chinese bronzes], vol. 3, Beijing, 1997, pl. 21. See also a few examples sold at auction, such as two bronze jue sold in these rooms, one on 22nd September 2004, lot 101, the other on 4th December 1985, lot 25; and a third, sold in our London rooms, 7th April 1981, lot 74.