PROPERTY IN THE COLLECTION OF DR. WALLACE AND ALICE SMITH, SAN FRANCISCO, SOLD TO BENEFIT GUIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND, SAN RAFAEL, THE PANDA FUND An Archaic Bronze Food Vessel, GuiLate Shang/Early Western Zhou dynasty The rounded body supported on a splayed pedestal foot, cast with a pair of 'ram' handles below the everted rim, the body finely cast with leiwen arranged diagonally in a diamond pattern between two bands of 'confronting birds' motif, centered by a small 'ox' mask above the flange on each side, the bronze covered in a thin, powdery green patina with areas of mottled cuprite, the interior and recessed areas with remains of heavy earth encrustation from burial. Wood stand. 10 3/8in (26.7cm) width with handle; 7 1/4in (18.4) diam of vessel; 5 1/2in (14cm) high 商晚期/西周早期 青銅雲雷紋簋 Sold to benefit Guide Dogs for the Blind, San Rafael, the Panda fund Provenance: Property from collection of Dr. Wallace and Alice Smith, San Francisco, in the collection prior to 1971, by descent 拍賣所得饋贈公益 Guide Dogs for the Blind, San Rafael, the Panda fund 出處： 舊金山 Wallace and Alice Smith 醫師與夫人舊藏，1971 年以前入藏，後由家族傳承 While the form and casting of this gui vessel is classically Shang, the diamond and leiwen pattern is unique and may indicate a regional style. pare the Shang dynasty pou vessel finely decorated with a diamond ground very similar to the present example, in the collection of the British Museum and illustrated by Rawson, Chinese Bronzes: Art and Ritual , London, 1987, p. 14, no. 14, described as probably provincial from South China. pare also the Shang dynasty gui vessel of very similar form and casting, in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco and illustrated by d'Argencé, Bronze Vessels of Ancient China in the Avery Brundage Collection , San Francisco, 1977, pp. 34-35, no. IX (upper-right).