the flattened pear-shaped body decorated with beast masks, flanked by tubular handles cast with two broad taotie bands, divided by a band of raised medallions with circular swirls, the sides set with raised flanges below opposing loop handles surmounted by elephant heads, all supported on a splayed foot encircled by a kuilong and raised medallion band  Width:25cm, Height:39cm, Auction Result Comparison: Compare with a similar archaic bronze vessel Hu, with the same appearance but different patterns at the Sotheby’s New York in Important Chinese Art on16th March 2016, lot343, sold for USD10,000 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.