A BRONZE RITUAL FOOD VESSEL, KANG GUI

A BRONZE RITUAL FOOD VESSEL, KANG GUI

EARLY WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, 11TH-10TH CENTURY BC

The vessel is raised on a tall foot encircled by a band comprised of four dissolved taotie with raised, oblong eyes and centered on a narrow flange. The lower body is decorated with a diamond-and-boss band between narrow borders of circles cast in thread relief, and the upper body with a band of \'eyes\' alternating with squared scrolls centered on two sides by a small animal mask cast in relief and interrupted on the other two sides by a pair of handles issuing from horned dragon masks. Each is cast in linear intaglio on the top with the facial features and horns of the mask, on the sides with ears and fanged jaws above scale pattern, and on the front below the mask with a horned mask above a cicada. An eight-character inscription, reading ya gao kang zuo fu gui zun yi, is crisply cast in the bottom of the interior. The patina is of mottled greyish-green color.

6 3/8 in. (16.3 cm.) diam., 9 1/8 in. (23.2 cm.) wide across handles