An archaic bronze ritual food vessel, guiEarly Western Zhou Dynasty|The compressed globular vessel with flaring rim raised on stepped foot, cast with a narrow band of stylised kui dragons formed with raised eyes and asymmetric scrolls, bisected by animal masks to each side and flanked by a pair of loop handles with pendants issuing from ox heads. 26cm (10 1/4in) wide|西周初 青銅夔龍紋牲耳簋|Compare with a similar gui vessel dated to the late Shang or early Western Zhou dynasty, illustrated by J.Rawson in Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Washington D.C., Vol.IIB, 1990, pp.380-381, no.42; for another similar vessel, see Wang Tao, Chinese Bronzes from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 2009, pp.204-205, no.100.|A similar archaic bronze gui vessel, early Western Zhou dynasty, was sold at Sotheby's New York on 20 March 2012, lot 1; and two further examples were sold at Sotheby's New York on 22 March 2011, lots 6 and 15.