Late Shang Dynasty, circa 11th Century BC This rare and unique vessel contains a U-shaped body rising from three splayed triangular blade tripod legs to a pointed rim opposite a guttered spout flanked by a pair of posts capped with conical finials, the exterior with finely modelled taotie masks bulging eyes, The design typically consists of a zoomorphic mask, divided by three crenelated vertical flanges, one side set with a lop handle issuing from bovine mask, the surface with malachite encrustation. Ritual wine vessels of this shape (jue) are the earliest surviving form of bronzes in ancient China. They functioned as c for drinking fermented-millet beverages in rituals to the ancestors. Such vessels from the early Erligang period are thinly cast. For similar see: Wang Tao and Liu Yu, A Selection of Early Chinese Bronzes with Inscriptions from Sotheby's and Christie's Sales, Shanghai, 2007, pl. 250. Size: L:185mm / W:175mm; 865g Provenance: Private collection of a London doctor; formerly in a Somerset Estate collection; acquired from Hong Kong galleries in the early 1990s.