RARE Ancient Chinese Bronze Ox Wine Storage Vessel ( Xi Zun) Shang Dynasty

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RARE Ancient Chinese Bronze Ox Wine Storage Vessel ( Xi Zun) Shang Dynasty :
$52950.00

Ancient Civilizations

Antiques, Artifacts & Fine Collectibles

AncientChinese Ritual Bronze Ox Shaped Wine Vessel (Xi Zun)

Rhinoceros& Dragons Speak to the Gods

100+Character Inscription in Chinese Large Seal Script

PartialEnglish Translation Provided

c.Shang Culture, Henan Province

1300BC—1050 BC

Providence:
This bronze Ox zun was reportedlypart of the same tomb/temple offerings as another Rhinoceros zun that is listedseparately on my store. The twozuns were have been in a private collection in Hong Kong for at least 70years. Undocumented reports suggest itwas discovered by farmers in 1938 and has been in private collections sincethat time. Research suggests that therhinoceros (a military officer’s symbol) and the oxen (a symbol of faithfulservice and sacrifice) are symbols of a military officer who served the stateand perhaps died in battle.

Thisancient, ritual Chinese bronze vessel (in Chinese Zun) is in the shape of an oxen (in Chinese公牛 Gōngniú)—asymbol of faithful service and of sacrifice. Oxen, rams and other animals used as ritualsacrifices in ancient times are called \"Xi Sheng.\" Similar vessels in Chinese museums areclassified as \"Xi Zun\" because it is shaped into an ox.

Thiscovered vessel has a fierce Tao’tie (alsocalled T\'ao-t\'ieh) monster on thefront of the vessel to scare away Evil Spirits, who were thought to inhabitboth Heaven (Tien) and Earth. Thevertical center flange, which acts as the nose of the Tao’tie, has several Shang Dynasty characters (words) cast into thesides. The t\'ao-t\'ieh mask is a commondesign on ritual Shang vessels. The symmetrical face is formed around thecentral flange with intense round eyes, expressive C-shaped horns, and S-shapedmouth.

Thefantastic Tao’tie mask is magical initself as it contains an optical trick. At first glance, one can see theelements of the face, such as the eyes, horns, and jaws. However, when onecovers up half of it, there appears to be two creatures (dragons) that meet inprofile at the center. Each horn, eye, and jaw belongs to a separate beingwhose body stretches out into lower claws and an upper tail. One cannot seeboth at the same time, recalling the more famous optical trick of therabbit/duck.

ThisXi Zun also has three anthropomorphic characters on each side of the vessel,including: two-horn Rhinoceros, Dragons,and Tao-tie/Elephants. The rhino havelarge, bulging, extended eyes and both the rhinos the dragons have very small(4-5 mm) tall pictographic characters (words) coming out of their mouths as ifthey are speaking. The characters areheavily encrusted, but I can make out a small, stick figure of a man with a roundhead that is the Oracle Bone and Large Seal Script pictograph for“Ancestors.” So these animals arespeaking directly to the gods and ancestors.Amazing!!

Thisvessel is covered with about 100 pictographic characters cast into the body ofthis ox. Every square millimeter is castwith wonderful relief decoration and/or script.The cast background is called leiwen,which can be literally translated as a \"thunder pattern\" that is a patternmade up of juxtaposed squared spirals.This pattern was also used by the Shang Dynasty artists to depict spiralclouds.

Onthe top of the oxen’s lidded back is a small monster (perhaps a dragon ox) that measures about 7 mm(2.75”) in length that served as a small handle to raise the lid of the Zun.

ThisZun dates approximately to the late Shang Culture (1600 BC—1050 BC) andcontains over 100 pictographic characters that are written in the earliestChinese written language—called Large Seal Script. A skilled artisan molded this stout oxen witha top lid that lifts of his back. Similarexamples found in the world’s finest museums suggest that this piece was madein the famous Shang capitol of Anyang, which is located in the modern provinceof Henan.

Askilled craftsman made this wine vessel (called a Zun in Chinese) during what is called the Anyang Period of theShang Culture, which lasted from about 1300 BC to 1030 BC. This ritual bronze vessel would have held riceor millet wine as a sacrifice to the Gods to honor the Spirit of an elitemember of Shang society as he journeyed towards the afterlife—Heaven—or “Tien” in Chinese. Animal-shaped containers were favored by thepeople who lived in the Yangzi River valley.

Thestylistic and technical advances in casting ritual, bronze vessel, as well asthe dedication cast into the sides of the bronze beast, suggest that piece wascrafted during the Anyang Period, which is also called the High Yinxu phase ofthe powerful Shang Dynasty. This stylewas popular from the 13th to 11th century BC.

CONDITION

TRANSLATION

1.On either side of the small monster that serves as thehandle, is the character for the oxen, which was the symbol for sacrifice asoxen were often sacrificed to the gods.There are also many more characters that I can’t see clearly enough totranslate.

2.There are about 6 characters on each side of the oxen’stail, but all I can make out is that they suggest that this vessel was offeredto the Ancestors and Gods as a sacrifice.

3.Coming out of the mouths of the Dragons and the Rhinos, areseveral very small characters that suggest the beasts are announcing to theancestors and gods the name of the spirit as it journeys to the afterlife.

4.Between the horns of the Dragon are the characters forAncestors, which appear to announce to the Heavens that this vessel is asacrifice to the Heavens to allow this military officer to enter into theafterlife. These ancestor characters arevery small (less than 4-5 mm in length) and best seen under at least 10xmagnification.

TheOx in Ancient China

Xi(牺) in ancient Chinese means solid, colored animals usedas sacrifice. This vessel is shaped like a vivid ox, which stands strong andsteady on its four, over sized legs. TheOx occupies the second position in the Chinese Zodiac. The 12 zodiac animalsare, in order: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey,Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Each year is related to a Chinese zodiac animalaccording to the 12-year-cycle.

TheOx functioned as both God and a sacrificial object in ancient times, with itbeing a custom for the ancient people to offer oxen to their ancestors assacrificial objects. The bones of oxen were buried with the dead in theprehistory period, which was the start of sacrificial offerings of oxen to Godor the ancestors of humans.

Afterthe Shang and the Zhou (1100–221 BC) dynasties, offering sacrifices to God wasequally important as launching a battle for the ancient Chinese people, whooffered oxen as sacrificial objects to their ancestors (normally the YanEmperor and the Yellow Emperor). A number of ox bones were discovered duringthe archaeological excavations in Anyang, Henan Province, the ancient capitalof the Shang Dynasty.

What\'smore, the ox was a must in both Tai Lao (referring to the sacrifices offered bythe ancient emperors which consisted of an ox, a sheep, and a pig) and Shao Lao(referring to the sacrifices offered by the ancient vassals and ministers whichconsisted of a sheep and a pig), and the oxen offered by the emperors had to beof a uniform color.

Accordingto the Changhua Annals of the Republic ofChina (1911–1949), the Li ethnic people did not see a doctor if they weresick; instead, they preferred to slaughter an ox and pray for healing. Theyalso took advice from witches and ate beef as medicine. In all, it was a grand ceremony for theancient people to offer sacrifices to both their ancestors and gods, whichcatered to their wishes to pray for peace and avoid evil spirits.

Thecow eats straw but produces milk and the ox tills the land but is often beaten,also providing beef and blood for human beings. The oxen never bully the weakand fear the strong, and they are also easily led by the noses by the farmerswhile working, which is the sacrificing spirit of the ox. Thisspirit is reflected in a couplet from a poem by Lu Hsun (1881–1936), reading as:\"Fierce–browed, I coolly defy a thousand pointing fingers; Head bowed,like a willing ox I serve the children,\" which fully expresses hisabsolute loyalty to the people\"

BronzeSacrificial Vessels in Ancient China

Inancient China, bronze vessels played an important role in ceremonies andrituals for rulers and high officials. The ritual books of ancient Chinaminutely describe who was allowed to use what kinds of sacrificial vessels andin what size and quantity. Some bronze vessels have been discoveredthat are over 5 feet high and weigh as much as 4 tons!

Bronzeproduction was carefully controlled by the emperor and bronze vessels weremeant only for the elite aristocracy and their immediate families. The Chinese inscribed all kinds of bronzeitems with three main motif types: demons, symbolic animals, and abstractsymbols

Thecreation of magnificent bronze vessels was highly labor-intensive, andtherefore its use was confined to that of the most important rituals of ancientShang and Zhou kings and aristocrats.The oldest Shang dynasty vessels were used in rituals centered on thesacrificial offering of food and wine to ancestors. Like elaborate banquets for the dead, foodswhich included meats and grains as well as rice or millet wine and sacrificialwater were prepared and presented in bronze vessels and then ritually offeredat family altars, often located in a separate structure within a familycompound. As British scholar, JessicaRawson, explains:

“These were essentiallyfamily ceremonies in which both the dead and the living took part. The deadremained an integral part of everyday society, requiring the kind of attentionalso given to living members of the family. The banquets or rituals were a showof respect to the dead so as to ensure that they would help their descendantsby interceding on their behalf with the gods and spirits. Without help from thedead, and a proper acknowledgement of their role, human affairs might fail andtheir descendants suffer.”

This was especially so of kings,whose ancestors not only had the power to affect the fortunes of theirdescendants, but were semi-godlike, having power and influence over the entirepopulation as well. Thus the most elaborate rituals-- more like ceremonies ofstate than the private rituals held by aristocratic families-- were performedby ancient kings. Highly decorated bronze vessels created in sets played aleading role in these rituals-- containing sacrifices and hosting theirpreparation.

The Chinese ancestors believed thatthe design of the ornaments could communicate with divinities and frightendemons as well. Therefore, to enshrine the bronze ware in the temple or tomb woulddo something good to them – either bring them good luck or ward off evilspirits.

1.Erlitou (about 1650-1500 BC), 2.Erligang (about 1500-1400 BC) and,3.Anyang (after around 1300 BC), also known as the Yinxuphase. Basedon a comparison to known examples in museums to height, style, and inscriptions,this zun dates to approximately the Anyang period of the famous Shang Dynasty.

It was at Xiaotun that perhaps themost impressive of the bronze-casting industry of the royal Shang kings orderedthe production of fine, ritual, bronze vessels to communicate with the Shangancestors and the gods in Heaven, especially the supreme god Di. Bronze production was strictly controlled bythe royal family, and the elite members of Shang’s upper class were strictlylimited as to the type and number of ritual bronzes that they could take to theafterlife with them in their tombs.

CONDITION

Museums and modern archeological studiesusually use the general term “copper alloy” instead of just the term “bronze”to describe these ancient treasures, as many other elements (such as tin, lead,zinc, iron, and even arsenic) were added to the copper to form differentstrengths of types of bronze items.Ancient bronze artifacts such as this zun vessel are probably about 80%copper and 20% tin, while modern bronze is closer to 88% copper and 12% tin.

It has a wonderful old, patina that isabsolutely fabulous: areas of a blue-green patina from the azurite and malachitein the surrounding soil. This combination of colors forms a fantastic patinathat is typical of bronze that has been buried for over 1,000 years. Close examination with a microscope undernatural and black light reveal it to be 100% authentic and cast by hand in asand mold.

One interesting property of bronze is thatonce it has oxidized superficially, a copper oxide layer is formed on thesurface and essentially protects the object from further damagingcorrosion. This protective layer turnsin another compound, called copper carbonate for you scientists out there,which protects most bronze pieces from further corrosion.

I have carefully examined this item undermagnification and it shows authentic and original signs of weathering andground contact that help to further authenticate it as an ancient piece. It shows minor oxidation and is in very goodcondition.

I Guarantee this bronze pouringvessel is authentic or your money back!You will not be disappointed! Itis a museum quality, ancient Chinese work of art.

It is a wonderful piece and would look greatdisplayed next to your other fine ancient Chinese jade and bronze pieces!

REFERENCES

Museum of Chinese History, Beijing
The Ancestral Landscape, David N. Knightley, 2000
The Great Bronze Age of China, edited by Wen Fong, MET, 1980
Changhua Annals of the Republic ofChina (1911–1949)
British Museum, Jessica Rawson
Smithsonian Museum, Sackler & Freer Gallery, WDC
MET, New York

ESTIMATEDsale VALUE & SAVINGS

ThisOx wine storage vessel ( Xi Zun) hasan sale appraisal estimate of US $120,000--$140,000. It will come with a Certificate ofAuthenticity (COA) from Ancient Civilizations.

Ata September 13-14, 2014, Christie’s sale in New York estimate that a similarzun would sell for $250,000 to $300,000.It ended up selling for an “eye-popping” hammer price, with the 20%buyer’s premium, of $1.4 million! WOW!!

Remember,on you pay no 20% buyer’s premium on the sale price! So, if this listed zun sold for $100,000, youthe buyer would save the buyer’s premium of $20,000 over what you would have topay if you purchased the exact same item on . never charges a buyer’s premium; onlythe seller pays a final value premium.Yet another reason to shop for fine antiquities on and not atexpensive sale houses.

Please note that their are many modern reproductions of Rhinoceros Zun vessels for sale on .

Their beauty and investment value are not comparable to this ancient ritual bronze that is about 3,000 years old.