A RARE BRONZE ‘ROARING BULL’ POURING VESSEL, YI, SPRING AND AUTUMN PERIOD China, 770 to 476 BC. The deep rounded body supported on three legs, the front legs naturalistically rendered with paws and the hind leg slightly shorter and of cabriole form. Well cast with a wide spout formed from the open mouth of a roaring bull with large, bulging eyes, a broad snout, and curved ears, its tail in the shape of a dragon forming the loop handle. The animal’s face is further decorated with archaic scroll and pierced in the center, the front legs with similar scroll decorations, and the hind leg issuing from a beast mask.

Provenance: J. Y. Nathan, Paris, France, 2006. Collection particulière française, acquired from the above.
Expert Authentication: A copy of a ‘Certificat D'Expertise’ by J. Y. Nathan, Paris, France, dated 8 February 2006, dating the piece to the Warring States period, accompanies this lot.
Condition: Excellent condition, commensurate with age. One small crack (ca. 2 cm long) to the edge of the body. Minuscule losses, nicks to edges and small dents. Few minor areas of erosion. Soil encrustations. Fine, naturally grown patina with extensive malachite encrustation.

Weight: 902.4 g
Dimensions: Length 33 cm

Literature comparison: Compare a closely related bronze yi, also with a spout in the form of a bull’s head, unearthed in Cailou village by the Xinzheng Municipal Cultural Relics Management Bureau in 2005, and another closely related bronze yi of similar form found in tomb M6 in Zhenghan Road, Xinzheng City, by the Xinzheng Work Station of the Henan Provincial Cultural Relics and Archaeology Institute. The tombs in Xinzheng were dated to the Spring and Autumn period because of the typological features of the bronze vessels, but the vessels are not described specifically as ritual vessels. See New Bronze Discoveries, China Heritage Newsletter, no. 3, September 2005, The Australian National University, fig. 2 and fig. 5.

Auction result comparison: Compare a related bronze yi with a spout in the form of a dragon’s head, 15.8 cm high, also dated to the Spring and Autumn period, at Sotheby’s New York in Informing The Eye Of The Collector: Chinese Ceramics And Works Of Art From J.T. Tai & Co. on 22 March 2011, lot 188, sold for USD 40,000.

春秋時期罕見青銅牛彜
中國，公元前770 至 476年。深圓腹，三足，前腿自然前伸，可見蹄子，後腿略短。 鑄工精良，如咆哮的公牛，張開的嘴形成寬口，大而凸出的眼睛，寬闊的鼻子和彎曲的耳朵，尾巴呈環柄。 獸面飾雷紋地並在中央穿孔，前腿有類似的紋飾，後腿可見獸面紋。

來源：法國巴黎J. Y. Nathan收藏，2006年；法國particulière française收藏，購於上述收藏
專家鑒定：隨附一份2006年2月8日法國巴黎J. Y. Nathan出具的 “Certificat D'Expertise”（《鑒定證書》），認爲此器來自戰國時代。
品相：狀況極佳，與年齡相稱。身體邊緣有一條小裂縫（長約2厘米）。微小的損失，邊緣的刻痕和小凹痕。很少有輕微的侵蝕區域。整體感覺不錯，油潤。土壤結痂。 精細、自然生長的銅綠，帶有廣泛的孔雀石結殼。

重量：902.4 克
尺寸：長33 厘米

拍賣結果比較：比較一件相近龍頭形青銅彜帶勺，高15.8 厘米，春秋時期，見紐約蘇富比Informing The Eye Of The Collector: Chinese Ceramics And Works Of Art From J.T. Tai & Co. 2011年3月22日 lot 188, 售價USD 40,000。