A very rare archaic bronze ritual food vessel, Ding


Late Shang Dynasty, 12th/11th century BC, inscribed YuThe deep round body flanked by two upright loop handles and supported on three cylindrical legs, crisply cast on the sides with three taotie masks intersected by flanges, each with prominent eyes, upright horns and small claws, beneath a band of twelve stylised kui dragons on a leiwen ground, the wall of the interior cast with a pictogram, the bronze covered with an attractive olive patina with areas of encrustation, Japanese wood box. 21cm (8 2/8in) high. (2).
|商（公元前十二至十一世紀） 青銅饕餮紋三足鼎「聿」金文鑄款 Provenance: J.T.Tai & Co., New YorkWilliam Bowmore, Australia (1909 - 2008)Mossgreen, Melbourne, 25 November 2008, lot 762The Reid Collection Exhibited:Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 2 November 1999 - 1 April 2000, The William Bowmore Collection: The Fine Art of Giving. 90 MasterpiecesArt Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, January 2009 - February 2018 (on loan)來源：紐約古董商戴潤齋先生澳洲收藏家William Bowmore先生 (1909 - 2008)2008年11月25日於墨爾本Mossgreen拍賣，拍品762號Reid 收藏展覽：1999年11月2日至2000年4月1日於阿德萊德南澳美術館，「The William Bowmore Collection: The Fine Art of Giving. 90 Masterpieces」特展展出2009年1月至2018年2月期間借展予悉尼新南威爾斯美術館Ritual bronze vessels such as the present lot were among the most highly prized and technically sophisticated objects manufactured in early China. Reserved for use by the most powerful families of the time, they carried the offerings presented to the ancestors during the performance of elaborate rituals. The role of these vessels was thus fundamental in ensuring the continuity of family lines, as it was believed that the ancestors were active participants to the life of their living offspring, which they could positively influence if provided with continuous nourishment. Compare with a similar archaic bronze ding vessel, 11th-11th century BC, decorated in two registers with confronted dragons and taotie masks, illustrated by R.Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M.Sackler Collections, pp.464-465, no.86. An archaic bronze ding, late Shang dynasty, similarly decorated in two registers depicting dragons and taotie designs, was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30 May 2012, lot 4131.類似於本拍品的青銅禮器在鑄造工藝上顯示出高超的技術水平和高度嚴密的組織性，在中國古代備受青睞。此等青銅器代表著至高無上的權利，為貴族身份等級的重要標誌，用以各種禮儀活動，目的是祈求或借助百神和列祖列宗來庇護貴族的利益和特權，進而維護「世代相續」的統治權力。賽克勒舊藏一件商代公元前十二至十一世紀的青銅鼎可資參考，其形制及龍紋和饕餮紋飾與此鼎類似，見R.Bagley，《Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M.Sackler Collections》，頁464-465，編號86。另見香港佳士得售出一件商代晚期青銅鼎，飾類似龍紋及饕餮紋，2012年5月30日，拍品編號4131。