With the deep U-shaped body raised on three splayed blade feet, cast with a band of taotie masks reserved on a dense leiwen ground, one side attached with a loop handle, beneath a long, channelled spout opposite a raised point forming the rim, surmounted by a pair of rectangular posts rising to mushroom-cap finials. According to the Zhou Li, bronze ritual vessels were used for ancestor ceremony. Width:16cm, Height:18cm, Auction Result Comparison: Compare with a related archaic bronze ritual wine vessel, Jue, at the Sotheby’s London in Important Chinese Art, lot 138 on 4th November 2020, sold for 18,900GBP. 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.