A PAIR OF BRONZE RITUAL FOOD VESSELS AND COVERS, GUI

This pair of footed gui with covers conforms stylistically to others of late Western Zhou-early Spring and Autumn date, which are raised on three feet, such as the Western Zhou gui excavated in 1978 at Fu Feng Qi, Shanxi province, now in the Fu Feng County Museum, illustrated in Zhongguo Qingtongqi, vol. 5, Western Zhou, Part 1, Beijing, 1998, pp. 66 and 67, pls. 69 and 70. See, also, the gui of early Spring and Autumn date excavated in 1978 at Huang Chuan Peng Dian, Henan province, now in the Cultural Center, Huang Chuan county, Henan province, illustrated in Zhongguo Qingtongqi, vol. 7, Eastern Zhou, Part 1, p. 123, pl. 120. Both of these vessels and the present pair of gui share the same use of bands of scrolls and horizontal grooves to decorate the body and cover, loop handles that issue from dragon heads, a similar band of scales on the foot between the three feet, and a circular handle on the cover.