AN ARCHAIC RITUAL BRONZE TRIPOD WINE VESSEL ( JUE )Early Shang dynasty, Erligang period, 16th-15th century B.C. The elliptical body with narrow waist and flat base supported on slender feet, the flared rim tapering to a point on one end with a raised flat border on the interior, rounded with a pair of short posts and a narrow spout on the opposite end, decorated with a band of taotie mask divided by a thin handle to the side, the thinly cast bronze with silvery patina, green malachite and earth encrustation from burial. 7 1/8in (18cm) high; 6 5/8in (17cm) wide 商早期 二里崗時期 青銅爵 Provenance: English Private Collection, London, acquired prior to 1999 Christie's New York, 16 September 2008, lot 347 來源： 英國倫敦私人舊藏，1999 年之前入藏 紐約佳士得，2008年9月16日，拍品編號347 pare the very similar early bronze jue vessel illustrated in the catalog of special exhibition at the Hong Kong Museum of Art by J. Rawson and E. Bunker, Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes , Hong Kong, 1990, pp. 66-67, no. 2. Another similar early bronze jue vessel in the collection of the British Museum is illustrated by J. Rawson, Chinese Bronzes: Art and Ritual , London, 1987, p. 60, no. 1, where the author describes "the slight ridge of bronze inside the lip" as an early feature, which also appears on the present example.