The pieces in this lot and the following lots form part of the collection of the late Dr Kenneth McCall who worked with his wife as missionary doctors in China in the 1930s during the Japanese occupation of China. This collection of oracle bones as well as a number of other archaic bronzes were left behind, hidden from the Japanese troops, in the McAll's house by James Mellon Menzies. Mr Menzies was the earliest collector of oracle bones and the first foreigner to discover the site of the last Shang Dynasty capital in Anyang. About 4700 pieces from his collection are now in the Royal Onatrio Museum. The McAlls brought the present collection back to the UK at the end of the second world war.

Oracle bones were used by ancient Chinese rulers for divination and the script on these bones is the oldest known form of the Chinese written language - they date to the late Shang period (approximately 3200 years old). The bones were heated until they cracked, the form of the cracks was then interpreted. The questions asked of the bones (and sometimes also the prognostications and the actual outcomes) were then carved into the bones. Most of these texts refer to aspects of court life including hunting, warfare and the weather.