EASTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, SPRING AND AUTUMN PERIOD (770-476 BC)

Several related examples of this type have been published. See Shang Chou Dynasty Bronze V, Li Vessels, vol. 5, Taipei, 1990, for three excavated li with similar stylised scroll beneath an everted rim. The first, illustrated p. 143, no. 155, was excavated in Shandong province in 1984; another example with a cover was also excavated in Shandong in 1977, and is illustrated on p. 144, no. 158; the third, excavated in Jiangsu province in 1977, is illustrated on p. 144, no. 157.

The underside of the Japanese wood box cover bears an inscription by Renqiu Xueren, the stuio name of Yuzo Sugimura (1900-1978), who was a renowned Chinese art scholar and a former Managing Director of Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo.