AN EXCEPTIONALLY LARGE AND MASSIVE BRONZE RITUAL TRIPOD WINE VESSEL, JIA, WITH A CLAN MARK, SHANG DYNASTY
China, 13th century BC. Raised on three blade-form supports, the sides flat-cast with two bands of taotie masks, each composed of three masks positioned between the supports and with rounded eyes and slender dividing flange, with a simple strap handle and a pair of rectangular posts with large conical caps cast with comma motifs. The interior with a clan sign in the form of a single pictogram.


Provenance:
A private collection in Kansai, Japan, acquired before 1960. A Japanese private collection, acquired 2005. Christie’s New York, 19 March 2008, lot 487, sold for USD 97,000 or approx.
EUR 127,000
(converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). A prominent North American private collection, acquired from the above.

Condition:
Superb condition, commensurate with age. Old wear, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations, few small nicks to edges. A clean, natural fatigue crack below one post, as shown in the X-ray images, with three small staples. No losses whatsoever. A rich, emerald-green patina, with distinct patches of azurite, malachite and pale sea-green. Displaying exceptionally well, and exceedingly rare in this magnificent size and condition.

X-Ray Images:
Available online at www.zacke.at.

Weight: 5.9 kg
Dimensions: Height 37 cm

With an old Japanese wood storage box. (2)


Expert’s note:
Jia of this type, with the decoration arranged in two registers, appeared shortly before the Anyang period (c. 1300-1030 BC). The main decoration was usually that of taotie masks, either cast in relief or flat cast as on the present jia, and on the very similar jia of slightly smaller size (35.2 cm), illustrated in Shang Ritual Bronzes in the National Palace Museum Collection, Taipei, 1998, pp. 152-7, no. 9, also illustrated on the National Palace Museum’s website, image number C1A000405N000000000PAD.


Literature comparison:

Compare a related bronze jia, 45 cm high, dated 13th-12th century BC, illustrated by R.W. Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1987, pp. 164-5, no. 7. Compare two related jia vessels illustrated in Shang Ritual Bronzes in the National Palace Museum Collection Taipei, 1998, p. 156, excavated in 1968 at Xiao chuan, Anyang prefecture, Henan province, the first from Tomb M388 and the second from Tomb 331. Compare a related jia vessel illustrated by Bernhard Karlgren, Some Characteristics of the Yin Art, in the Röhss Museum, no. 34, 1962, pl. 31a. Also compare an example in the Lippens collection of ancient Chinese bronzes, published by Christian Deydier, Paris, France, lot 12.


Auction result comparison:

Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 11 September 2012, lot 97
Price: USD 170,500 or approx.
EUR 204,000
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare archaic bronze ritual tripod vessel, jia, late Shang dynasty, 13th-11th century BC
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, two-register taotie decoration, and patina. Note the inscription ‘Shang’ on this jia.


Auction result comparison:

Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 21 March 2014, lot 2034
Price: USD 149,000 or approx.
EUR 175,000
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare large bronze ritual tripod wine vessel, jia, late Shang dynasty, 13th-12th century BC
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, two-register taotie decoration, and patina. Note the much smaller size (29.8 cm) and absence of a clan mark.


Auction result comparison:

Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 25 September 2020, lot 1502
Price: USD 137,500 or approx.
EUR 146,000
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A bronze ritual tripod wine vessel, jia, mid-Shang dynasty, 13th century BC
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, two-register taotie decoration, and patina. Note the much smaller size (30.5 cm) and absence of a clan mark.




商代青銅斝

中國，公元前十三世紀。斝形體碩大，鑄造精良，紋飾精美。器身侈口長頸，口沿上有一對束繖形柱，扁腹，扁環形鋬，器底近平，三棱錐足外撇。繖形柱飾雲雷紋，頸部和腹部均飾卷角饕餮紋。斝內有一個可能為氏族標誌。


來源：
日本關西私人收藏，購於1960年前；日本私人收藏，購於2005年；紐約佳士得2008年3月19日，lot 487, 售價USD 97,000 或相當於
EUR 127,000
(根據通貨膨脹)；北美知名私人收藏購於佳士得。

品相：
狀況極佳，磨損、風化和侵蝕的跡象、結殼、邊緣的一些小刻痕。如 X 射線圖像所示，一根柱子下方有自然的裂紋，其中有三顆小訂書釘。沒有任何缺損。整器銹色自然厚重。豐富的翠綠銅鏽，帶有明顯的藍銅礦、孔雀石和淺海綠色斑塊。

X
射線圖片：
見 www.zacke.at.

重量：5.9 公斤
尺寸：高 37 厘米

配老日本木盒 (2)


專家注釋：
此類斝的紋飾分兩格，出現於安陽時期（約公元前 1300-1030 年）之前不久。主要紋飾多為饕餮面具，或浮雕，或平鑄，與故宮博物院藏商代青銅器中所繪尺寸稍小（35.2厘米）的斝非常相似，台北，1998年，第152-7頁，第1期。 9、故宮博物院網站也有插圖，圖號C1A000405N000000000PAD。


文獻比較：


比較一件相近的西元前十三至十二世紀青銅斝，高45 釐米，見R.W. Bagley，《Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections》，麻州劍橋，1987年，頁164-5，編號7。比較兩件相近商代青銅斝，收藏於台北故宮博物館，1998年，頁156，出土於1968 年河南安陽墓葬，第一件來自M388號墓，第二件來自331墓。比較一件相近的青銅斝，Bernhard Karlgren，《Some Characteristics of the Yin Art》，收藏於Röhss博物館，編號34，1962年，圖31a。比較另一件例子，見Christian Deydier，《Lippens collection of ancient Chinese bronzes》，法國巴黎，lot 12。


拍賣結果比較：

形制：非常相近
拍賣：紐約蘇富比，2012年9月11日，lot 97
價格：USD 170,500（相當於今日
EUR 204,000
）
描述：商晚期公元前十三至十一世紀青銅饕餮紋斝
專家評論：比較非常相近的外形、兩面饕餮和包漿。請注意有「商」款識。


拍賣結果比較：

形制：非常相近
拍賣：紐約佳士得，2014年3月21日，lot 2034
價格：USD 149,000（相當於今日
EUR 175,000
）
描述：晚商 青銅饕餮紋斝
專家評論：比較非常相近的外形、兩面饕餮和包漿。請注意尺寸較小 (29.8 釐米) ，但沒有氏族標記。


拍賣結果比較：

形制：非常相近
拍賣：紐約佳士得，2020年9月25日，lot 1502
價格：USD 137,500（相當於今日
EUR 146,000
）
描述：商中期青銅饕餮紋斝
專家評論：比較非常相近的外形、兩面饕餮和包漿。請注意尺寸較小 (30.5 釐米) ，但沒有氏族標記。