Late Shang/Early Western Zhou Dynasty, Ca. 12th-11th Century BC The body composed of a lower section divided into three bulbous lobes tapering to three columnar feet, each lobe cast with a large bovine mask with thick horns, protruding eyes and fanged mouth, rising to a deep U-form bowl. Above the undecorated zone is a band taotie masks formed by pairs of dragons with coiled tails confronted on narrow flanges above pendent triangular blades that are slightly raised from the surface. some restoration. For further reading see: Zhongguo Qingtongqi Quanji - 5 - Xi Zhou (1), Beijing, 1996, p. 43, no. 46. For similar see: The Cleveland Museum of Art: Accession Number: 1975.96The item has undergone X-ray fluorescence analysis to confirm the metallurgical content suggesting its ancient origin and lack of modern trace elements. Size: L:410mm / W:230mm ; 5.7kg Provenance: East Anglian private collection; formerly acquired in the early 1990s in Hong Kong.