PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF DRS. EDMUND AND JULIE LEWIS AN ARCHAISTIC INLAID BRONZE VESSEL, DUIMing dynasty The half-spherical body supported on three square ring-and-cabriole legs inlaid with lines of malachite, a pair ofma-shaped handles at the shoulders similarly decorated, the vessel divided by two narrow bands of scrollwork inlaid in copper wire framing a band of 'confronting birds' motif inlaid with malachite, below a band of large triangle panels alternating silver and malachite inlays, the underside decorated with a medallion of four spiral scrolls inlaid with malachite, a line of seven-character inscription incised on the stepped lip rim, fitted with a later wood cover with jade 'duck and lotus' knob. 6 3/8in (16.2cm) high; 11 1/2in (29.3cm) length over handles 明 仿古鑲銀鑲紅銅嵌孔雀石銅敦暨七字銘文 後配玉鈕木蓋 Inlaid bronze vessels of this form appeared as early as the Eastern Zhou period. While closely following the form and proportion of the ancient example, the present lot's workman and design is more rigid and clean.pare the Warring States bronze dui inlaid with gold and silver in the Winthrop Collection and now in the Harvard Art Museums, illustrated by So, Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections , New York, 1995, p. 201, fig. 29.8. Dating of revival style bronzes is always challenging because few datable examples have survived. Several inlaid bronze dui of this design exists in museum collections and private hands.pare the very similar inlaid bronze dui and cover from the Brundage Collection now in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, accession number B60B11+, attributed to Song dynasty; another very similar dui and cover in the Shanghai Museum, published by Wang in the catalogue of the exhibition, Mirroring China's Past: Emperors, Scholars, and Their Bronzes , Chicago, 2018, p. 56, no. 20, attributing to the Warring States period; a slightly smaller inlaid dui and cover from the Freer Collection and now in the National Museum of Asian Art, Washington D.C., illustrated by Pope, Gettins, Cahill and Barnard, The Freer Bronzes , Volume I, Washington, 1967, pp. 574-576, pl. 107, described as "recent" and noting by the authors "The more rigidlypartmentalized and static designs on the Freer and Brundage tui agree rather with those on inlaid vesselsmonly ascribed (although without positive evidence) to the Sung period." Another very similar inlaid bronze dui with later fitted metal cover was offered at Sotheby's New York, 20 March 2019, lot 671, attributed to Ming dynasty.