Of oval section, supported on a high rim with a wide frieze of gui dragons interrupted on the longer sides by a raised bucranium mask, the ends applied with two further mask terminals supporting the wall swing handle decorated with cursive meander, the interior well cast with a pictogram, the patina of a fine greyish-green tone with some cuprite encrustation. Replacement padoukwood cover surmounted by pierced jade finial; wood stand.
Literature
Similar late Shang or early Western Zhou you vessles, with slight variations, are recorded. See B. Karlgren, 'New Studies on Chinese Bronzes', Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, no.9, 1937, pl. XLIII; Jung Keng, 'The Bronzes of Shang and Chou', Yenching Journal of Chinese Studies, Monograph Series no. 17, 1941, vol.II, no.662; in Ancient Chinese Arts in the Idemitsu Collection, pl.
