A fine Chinese bronze ritual wine vessel, gu, Shang Dynasty, 13th-14th century BC, the rounded middle section cast in intaglio with two taotie masks between borders of circles, the mottled patina of olive-green colour, 19cm high, 515 gramsProvenance: From a private English Collection by family descent purchased from Roger Keverne, 16th October 2009, no receipt but documented in collection notes. This vessel belongs to the latter stage of the Erligang phase, circa 14th to 13th centuries BC and as Robert Bagley discusses in Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, no.25, pp. 216-219 the thickened waist is only seen occasionally during this period. For related examples, see Jan Fontein and Tang Wu, Unearthing China's Past, no.7, pp.37038, and note particularly fig.5, excavated at Minggonglu, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, which has a very similar decorative band; and see Hubei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, The Panlongcheng Site Report of Archaeological Excavation from 1963-1994, vol.2, colour pl.30, fig.1 (PYWM 4:6), pl.36, fig. 1 (PWZM 1:4), and pl.87, Fig.2 (PYWM 11:5)商代 青铜兽面纹觚拍品来源：英国私人收藏，其家族于2009年购自英国著名古董商Roger Keverne