The vessel has a short neck with a slightly everted mouth, rounded shoulders, a converging belly, and a high footrim; the shoulders and sides are surmounted by beast-headed, dragon head ears; the main body is decorated with a pair of deformed, curling kui dragons with protruding eyes, and pointed teeth. Width:29cm, Height:29cm, Auction comparison: Compare a closely related bronze ritual Lei, also dated to Shang Dynasty, but having handles decoration at Sotheby’s New York in The Hundred Antiques: Fine & Decorative Asian on 30th September 2020, lot 1061. Provenance: Private estate collection from Toshio Nomura. Toshio Nomura (1930-2014) was a Japanese businessman in Kansai area and a private collector. His maternal grandfather, Hisashi Ueno, began working at the Tianjin Concession Consulate in 1913. During his 27 years in China, he collected a large number of Chinese works of art, with a wide range of interests, particularly in porcelain and metal pieces. WALNUT TREE AUCTION HOUSE provides condition reports as a courtesy to our clients and assumes no liability for any error or omission. Any condition statement is given as a courtesy to a client, and is only an opinion and should not be treated as a statement of fact. Descriptions are our opinions and should in no way be construed as a guarantee of any kind as to age, condition, mater.