An archaic bronze ritual wine vessel (Jia), Shang dynasty, Erligang culture | 商 二里崗文化 青銅饕餮紋斝

Japanese Private Collection, acquired in the 1980s and 1990s.

日本私人收藏，得於1980年代至1990年代

Compare a related bronze jia similarly decorated around the body and neck with taotie masks between rows of repetitive rings, excavated in Panlongcheng, Hubei province, illustrated in Li Taoyuan et al., ed., Panlongcheng qingtong wenhua [Archaic bronze cultures at Panlongcheng], Wuhan, 2002, p. 103; another excavated in Yaozhuang, Mancheng, Hebei province, attributed to the Erligang culture, illustrated in Robert W. Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Washington, D.C., 1987, p. 78, fig. 48; and a third of a larger size, from the Meiyintang Collection, similarly attributed to Shang dynasty, Erligang culture, circa 15th-14th century BC, published in Wang Tao, Chinese Bronzes from the Meiyingtang Collection, London, 2009, pl. 8, where the author notes that 'the sophisticated casting technology and comparatively standardized decoration indicate the beginning of a transition from the early to the middle Shang dynasty'. See a middle Shang dynasty bronze jia with a related taotie design but without the rows of repetitive rings, discovered at Lanhefan, Yancheng, Henan province, in 1979, now preserved in Xushen Memorial Museum in Yancheng, illustrated in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji [Complete series on Chinese bronzes], vol. 1, XiaShang1, Beijing, 1996, pl. 94. 

Other related bronze jia of a slightly more elongated form from around this period include one of a larger size, attributed to the late 14th century - early 13th century BC, formerly in the collection of Hayasaki Kokichi, purchased by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 1914, illustrated on the Museum's website (accession no. 14.85); one attributed to approximately 1500-1200 BC, formerly in the collection of Avery Brundage, now in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, published on their website (accession no. B60B45); a third from the MacLean Collection, sold in these rooms, 22nd September 2021, lot 4; and another formerly in the Asami Collection, attributed to the early Shang dynasty, Erligang phase, circa 1600-1500 BC, sold at Christie's New York, 20th September 2013, lot 1453.