AN ARCHAIC BRONZE WINE VESSEL, GU Late Shang Dynasty (2)AN ARCHAIC BRONZE WINE VESSEL, GULate Shang DynastyOf slender waisted form, finely cast around the mid-section and splayed foot with pairs of taotie masks with raised eyes on a fine leiwen ground, the taotie on the splayed foot further enhanced with an openwork design, centered by notched flanges and divided by a pair of bowstrings, the tall flared neck encircled by four upright triangular blades rising from a band of spirals, the reddish-brown patina with areas of malachite-green encrustation, box. 25cm (9 3/4in) high. (2).商晚期 青銅鏤空饕餮紋觚Provenance:An Asian private collection, acquired in the early 2000s來源:亞洲私人收藏，購於2000年代早期Gu vessels were used as sacrificial wine receptacles and were among the most important objects used in rituals during the late Shang dynasty. Although reference to the name gu is frequently found in early ritual texts, it became associated with the present vessel shape in the Catalogues of Antiquities produced by Song dynasty scholars. The shape appears to have originated in pottery production of the Neolithic period, which came in various sizes and shapes. The bronze version, however, probably emerged during the Erligang period (c.1510-1460 BC) and became popular during the Yinxu period (1250-1192 BC), when it became an important component of ritual vessel sets. For related discussion, see Ju Huanwen, Yin Zhou zhiji qingtong guxingqi zhi gongyong ji xiangguan zhuzi [The functions of the bronze gu vessels in the Yin Zhou period and the study of related inscriptions], included in Zhongguo wenzi yanjiou di shijiu ji [The study of Chinese characters vol.19], Shanghai, 2014, pp.29-40.For similar examples of gu vessels, see a Huang gu in the Shanghai Museum and a Fu gu in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, illustrated in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji, Beijing, 1998, vol.2, nos.125-126; compare also a bronze gu vessel sold at Sotheby's New York, 15 March 2017, lot 597.觚薄唇侈口，口沿下飾四片蕉葉紋，下收至細頸，頸出四戟，前後飾饕餮紋各一面，饕餮眼珠凸起，腰部之下兩匝弦紋，前後開十字形孔，圈足外撇，足墻鏤空作饕餮紋，雙目凸起如乳釘。觚名為宋儒所定，後世沿用，而觚自作銘稱本器為「同」，《考古與文物》著錄一件西周早期內史亳豐觚之銘文：「成王易（賜）內史亳豐祼，弗敢虞，乍（作）祼同」，可資佐證，見吳振鋒撰，《內史亳豐同的初步研究》，載於《考古與文物》，2010年，第2期，頁30。觚爵常搭配使用，出土實物亦常見觚爵同時出現。商周之際觚主要用於「裸祭」，容器中塞細管，酒液從上流下，以象徵神歆飲之狀，相關討論見鞠煥文撰，《殷周之際青銅觚形器之功用及相關諸字》，載於《中國文字研究第19輯》，上海，2014年，頁29-40。圈足鏤空之觚頗為少見，可比較上海博物館藏黃觚以及美國賽克勒美術館藏婦觚，二者圈足皆飾鏤空饕餮紋，且一如本觚三層滿工，見《中國青銅器全集》，北京，1998年，卷2，編號125及126。亦可參考紐約蘇富比售出一件鏤空圈足青銅觚，2017年3月15日，拍品編號597。