Lot 118 | EXCEPTIONAL BRONZE RITUAL VESSEL, SO-CALLED DING

EXCEPTIONAL BRONZE RITUAL VESSEL, SO-CALLED DING.

Origin: China.
Dynasty: Western Zhou dynasty.
Date: 1100-771 BC.
Technique: Bronze.
Description: Semi-circular balbous bowl on three feet with stylised dragon mascarons at the base of the
sides. Two u-shaped handles on the sides. The lower sides with a broad decorative band of
dense scale relief and a narrow strip of leiwen meander above a thin bulge.
Measurement: Height to rim 21,5cm, height to end of handles 27cm, ø 27,5cm.

Provenance:
Private collection North Rhine-Westphalia, acquired 2005.

Certificate:
Thermoluminescence test no. C205h83 Oxford Authentication Ltd. from 2005 available in the original. The dating corresponds to the result of the thermoluminescence test.

Literature:
Pipes, Chen: Ancient Chinese Bronzes - In the Shanghai Museum, London 1995. For comparable decors see pp.70/71, no.43.

In the Chinese Bronze Age, Ding were the most ritually significant of the bronze ceremonial vessels. In the Shang and Zhou dynasties, bronze ding were used in ancestor worship and other sacrificial ceremonies. The number that could be possessed seems to have been strictly regulated, depending on social status within the Western Zhou dynasty.