**First Time At Auction**

East Asia, China, Late Shang Dynasty, ca. 12th to 11th century BCE. A gorgeously preserved ritual wine vessel, known as a "gu", from the Chinese Bronze Age. The vessel has a trumpet-shaped neck and mouth, a midsection with four notched flanges, and a flaring foot with four long, curved notched flanges. Etched decoration covers much of the surface - leiwen-filled blades ("leiwen" is a motif of thunder) rise up the neck. Taotie masks decorate the midsection between the flanges, while the foot also has ornate taotie masks. Size: 5.8" Diameter x 11" H (14.7 cm x 27.9 cm)

The taotie is one of the "four fiends" or "four evil creatures" of Chinese mythology, and is a particularly fascinating and ancient symbol - seen on Shang Dynasty bronzes. In the Lushi Chunqiu, known in English as Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals, a Chinese encyclopedia compiled around 239 BCE, the taotie is described thusly: "The taotie on Zhou bronzes has a head but no body. When it eats people, it does not swallow them, but harms them" (16/3a Prophecy). This and other ancient descriptions of the creature suggest that it related to making food offerings/sacrifices for the insatiable spirits of the dead. Some scholars believe that the creature is part of the mysterious communication between people and the gods.

We owe the preservation of these ancient bronzes to their burial, either in storage pits, where they were hastily hidden by fleeing members of a defeated elite house, or, more commonly, in tombs. During the Shang dynasty, members of the royalty were accompanied in the afterlife by their bronzes, ceramics, weapons, amulets, and ornaments, and even the human and animal entourage that surrounded them in life: servants, bodyguards, horses, chariots, and charioteers. Each tomb had a set of specialized bronze vessels, of which the gu was just one designed to hold wine.

Provenance: private Vero Beach, Florida, USA collection, acquired in the 1980s; ex-old English collection

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#177455

Professionally repaired and restored with some light surface wear, commensurate with age. Otherwise, excellent with impressive remaining decoration. Rich patina and earthen encrustations throughout.