Ritual - Gui vessel - Bronze - 20th century





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Bronze ritual vessel titled Ritual- Gui Gefäß dating to the 20th century, with Taotie mask decoration and a Chinese bronze inscription on the base, measuring 8.5 × 10.3 × 15.5 cm, in good condition from a private collection.
Description from the seller
The vessel features typical decorative elements such as the Taotie mask, a characteristic of ancient bronzes.
On the bottom of the vessel is a Chinese inscription, also called bronze script (jinwen), which is typical for ancient Chinese bronzes. The characters are difficult to decipher, but the central character in the top row closely resembles the character for 'big' or 'great' (大 dà). There appears to be a second character below or to the right that is less clear, but in combination with the first, it could possibly mean 'official' or 'minister' (dàfū 大夫).
Such inscriptions were often added to identify the manufacturer or the purpose of the ritual vessel—for example, for ancestor worship.
The vessel features typical decorative elements such as the Taotie mask, a characteristic of ancient bronzes.
On the bottom of the vessel is a Chinese inscription, also called bronze script (jinwen), which is typical for ancient Chinese bronzes. The characters are difficult to decipher, but the central character in the top row closely resembles the character for 'big' or 'great' (大 dà). There appears to be a second character below or to the right that is less clear, but in combination with the first, it could possibly mean 'official' or 'minister' (dàfū 大夫).
Such inscriptions were often added to identify the manufacturer or the purpose of the ritual vessel—for example, for ancestor worship.

