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Expert’s note
The present jiao ranks among the finest and most important examples of its type known. It unites a substantial four-element inscription with exceptionally crisp, densely worked decoration, including the very rare continuation of cicada-blade ornament onto all three blade-shaped legs. The powerful taotie masks, prominent eyes, raised brows, C-shaped ears, and intricate leiwen remain remarkably sharp, attesting to both the quality of the casting and its exceptional preservation. Concealed beneath the handle and conventionally read Yao Fu Gan, the inscription connects the vessel with the ancestral and social order of the Shang elite, transforming this magnificent ritual object into an important historical document.
Inscriptions: Below the handle, comprising four pictographic elements arranged in two vertical registers. Following the reading proposed by Christian Deydier, the first is read Yao, the second Fu (‘father’ or paternal ancestor), while the third and fourth are understood together as the compound graph Gan. The inscription may therefore be transliterated Yao Fu Gan (爻父敢) and cautiously rendered ‘(Made for) Father Gan of Yao’.
An important epigraphic parallel appears on a closely related bronze jiao formerly in the Cunliffe Collection, published and exhibited by Christian Deydier, The Lippens’ Collection of Ancient Chinese Bronzes, Hong Kong, 2019, p. 54-57, no. 14, sold at the time for USD 280,000 or approx. EUR 311,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
That inscription repeats the four pictographic components found on the present lot but includes the additional graph yi (乙), which Deydier records as Yao Fu Yi Gan and translates ‘Father Yi Gan of Yao’. Because the final two components are read together as the single graph Gan, Deydier describes the comparative inscription as comprising four characters, although visually it contains one more component than the inscription on the present vessel. Crucially, no yi character is seen on the present bronze. This parallel nevertheless raises the possibility that an additional ancestral day-name such as yi once formed part of a longer formula, or that the present inscription represents an abbreviated version of it.
Yao has previously been identified as the name or emblem (zuhui 族徽) of an important Shang clan, lineage, or descent group. On this interpretation, Gan may have designated an individual or a subsidiary group associated with the larger Yao lineage, making the inscription a statement of ancestral dedication and social identity. Scholarship has, on the other hand, also cautioned against treating pictographic emblems exclusively as equivalents of hereditary surnames: some signs may instead have denoted an official title, inherited office, or other form of institutional status.
China. The body is raised on three tall, curved blade-form legs and finely cast in relief with two taotie masks, one divided by the loop handle and the other divided by a narrow vertical flange, all beneath a band of upright blades at the flared mouth, the legs each similarly cast with cicada blades. A four-character inscription is cast under the handle.
Provenance: Christian Deydier, Oriental Bronzes, London, by 1995. Collection of Louis Depagne, Nice, France, acquired from the above and thence by descent. A private collection in, Paris, France, acquired from the above. A copy of the invoice from Oriental Bronzes, dated 1 June 1995, signed by Christian Deydier, addressed to Louis Depagne, stating a purchase price of GBP 23,000 or approx. EUR 57,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), and confirming the dating above, accompanies the lot. Christian Deydier is an internationally respected scholar, author, and dealer specializing in early Chinese art, particularly archaic bronzes. He holds a degree in Chinese language and civilization from the University of Paris and pursued advanced studies in Chinese archaeology at Tai Ta University in Taipei, where he focused on jiaguwen, the earliest known form of Chinese writing from the Shang dynasty. At the age of twenty-six, he published his first major scholarly work with the école Fran?aise d’Extrême-Orient, followed in 1980 by Les Bronzes Chinoises, the first comprehensive synthesis devoted to Chinese bronzes. Appointed an expert at the H?tel Drouot, he went on to establish Oriental Bronzes Ltd, first in London in 1987 and subsequently in Paris, a gallery that evolved into today’s Galerie Christian Deydier, internationally recognized for its exceptional selection of archaic Chinese bronzes as well as its exhibitions and presentations shown at major venues and art fairs in Paris, Brussels, Hong Kong, and New York. Through his scholarship, gallery program, and publications, Deydier has made a lasting contribution to the academic study and connoisseurly appreciation of ancient Chinese art. Louis Depagne (1926-2006) was a French antiquarian, collector, and connoisseur of Asian art, active in Nice from the 1950s. Having begun his career as an antiques dealer at the Marché aux Puces, he later established Curiosités in Nice, specializing in Chinese and Japanese works of art, including ceramics, bronzes, sculpture, and textiles. Depagne developed his passion for Chinese art through scholarly reading and the formation of his own collection, which, according to the Indian writer and art historian Baldoon Dhingra in 1958, he assembled “with an almost instinctive feeling for the delicacy, charm, and sense of peace that Orientalia always brought him”. His friend and fellow collector Marcel Gerbe likewise recalled him as a knowledgeable sinologist and discerning connoisseur, distinguished by the exacting standards he consistently applied when selecting objects for acquisition. As Depagne himself would often tell Gerbe, “The pebbles on the beach are thousands of years old, but that alone does not make them valuable.”
Condition: Superb condition with expected wear, casting irregularities, traces of weathering, corrosion, signs of prolonged burial, minor dents. The bronze with an exquisite, naturally grown patina with vibrant malachite encrustations. The crisply cast decorations are extremely well-preserved, which makes this one of the most attractive examples of its kind. In such pristine condition, it must be considered exceedingly rare.
Weight: 1.1 kg
Dimensions: Height 22.8 cm
Far rarer and larger than the closely related jue, the jiao is distinguished by its wide mouth terminating in two symmetrically pointed tips and by the absence of the long pouring spout and capped posts characteristic of the jue. Both forms were employed for heating and serving wine during ancestral rituals, their tripod construction allowing them to be placed over a fire or among hot embers. Archaeological excavations have established that the jiao was already in use during the Erligang period and continued to be produced into the Western Zhou dynasty. For a detailed discussion of the formal and stylistic development of the jiao vessel type, see Robert W. Bagley, Ancient Chinese Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. 1, 1987, p. 208-214.
Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related bronze jiao, dated 14th-12th century BC, 24.4 cm high, in the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, object number 1948.290. Compare a related bronze jiao, dated 11th century BC, 22.5 cm high, illustrated and exhibited by J. J. Lally, 19 March-9 April 2011, New York, no. 1. Compare a related bronze jiao, dated 11th-10th century BC, 24.9 cm high, formerly in the collection of Goro Sakamoto and now in the Nara National Museum, accession number 1317-37.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 17 March 2017, lot 1011
Price: USD 162,500 or approx. EUR 192,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare bronze ritual tripod wine vessel, mu ning ri xin jiao, late Shang dynasty
Expert remark: : Compare the closely related form, manner of casting, and motifs. Note the size (16.7 cm).
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams London, 8 November 2018, lot 25
Mid-Estimate: GBP 175,000 or approx. EUR 276,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A very rare archaic bronze tripod vessel, jiao, late Shang dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, manner of casting, motifs, and size (22 cm).
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