AN ARCHAIC RITUAL BRONZE VESSEL AND COVER 'DING'

Description:

China, Western Han dynasty, 206 B.C. - 8 A.D.
D. 15,2 cm
Cast bronze, thin-walled cast, with malachite and brownish patina, the lid with three handles in the form of stylized serpentine dragons, the vessel itself with two vertically aligned handles, on three internally hollow legs containing parts of the cast core.
From the Zeileis collection, assembled in the 1980s and 90s.
Published in: Friedrich Georg Zeileis, 'Von Shang bis Qing, Dreieinhalb Jahrtausende Chinesische Bronze', Gallspach, 1999, no. 107, pp. 304-305 - Small hole near a handle, some corrosion