Bronze Vessel - Jian

Bronze Vessel - Jian

Eastern Zhou Dynasty (771-256 BCE)

Diameter: 10.25 inches (26 cm) Width: 13 inches (33cm)

The round bowl rises from the flat base to a recessed neck and everted lip. There are two masked loop handles on either side. The body and neck are cast with bands of a vermiculite pattern in low relief. A raised rope twist line surrounds the vessel above the foot. The interior of the bowl has been left undecorated. A smooth dark patina with some malachite and cuprite encrustation covers the entire bowl.

Highlights

  • Provenance: Private Canadian Collector Michael B. Weisbrod, Inc., at the Carlyle, New York Chinese Collection, Hong Kong, 1986
  • Published & Exhibited: Weisbrod Chinese Art, Ltd., New York, early 1990s.

Reference Pieces

A similar vessel is in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, illustrated in B.M.F.E.A. Bulletin No. 6 pl. XXXXII, and was included in the Venice Exhibition, 1954, Catalogue, no. 70. Another similar example from the H.G. Oeder Collection is illustrated by William Watson, Ancient Chinese Bronzes, pl. 59a.

This piece was sold at Christie's, New York.