AN ARCHAIC BRONZE RITUAL FOOD VESSEL AND COVER, GUI Western Zhou Dynasty The beehive-shaped vessel and cover cast with horizontal concentric tiers and standing on a wide spreading foot, the domed cover with a flaring finial pierced with two apertures, the tapering shoulder applied with a pair of plain loop handles, the interior of the cover impressed with three pictograms. 26cm (10 2/8in) wide. (2). Footnotes: Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價 西周 青銅簋 The inscription may be read as: '敏作寶', which may be translated as 'Min made [this] treasure'. See a similar bronze ritual vessel illustrated in Bronzes in the Palace Museum, Beijing, 1999, no.160; see also an example unearthed at Beidaogou, Sipo village, Lantian County, Shaanxi Province, and now in the collection of the Shaanxi Provincial Museum, illustrated by Ma Chengyuan, Ancient Chinese Bronzes, Oxford, 1986, pl.50. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com