An imperial archaistic bronze ritual vessel and cover (Gui), Seal marks and period of Qianlong

Acquired in California in the 1980s.

Recorded and illustrated in Huangchao liqi tushi [Illustrated Precedents for the Ritual Paraphernalia of the Imperial Court], the present lot belongs to a group of bronze sacrificial vessels that are specified to be placed at the center of an altar table in a Confucian temple. Of 18 volumes and completed in 1759, Huangchao liqi tushi [Illustrated Precedents for the Ritual Paraphernalia of the Imperial Court], was commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor to record and document Qing imperial regulations with the first two volumes dedicated to sacrificial vessels.

See a closely related Qianlong mark and period bronze gui, from the Palace Museum, Beijing, included in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's exhibition, Recasting the Past: The Art of Chinese Bronzes, 1100–1900, New York, 2025, cat. no. 158.