Page 59 - 2011 - The Frank Arts Collection, Chinese Bronzes

Inscription:
- A five-character inscription inside the vessels translates, ‘The Duke of Qin (had)
made (this) precious gui’.
Provenance:
- Wang Jui Chin collection, Taipei and Hong Kong, 1993
- Frank Arts Collection, Belgium.
Notes:
- The Dukes of the State of Qin ruled the strongest feudal kingdom during the
Zhou dynasty.
- During the last days of the Western Zhou dynasty, Duke Xiang of Qin (Qin Xiang
Gong) saved the royal house of Zhou and ensured the dynasty’s survival as
Eastern Zhou, with a new capital in Luoyang ( Henan province). In recognition,
he received the title of “Gong” Duke.
- At the end of the Warring States, and after the unification of all of China, the last
Duke of Qin took the title of Qin Shi Huangdi and inaugurated the Qin dynasty,
thus becoming China’s first ‘Huangdi’ or emperor.
- The present Qin Gong gui was owned by either Qin Zhuang Cong or Qin Xiang
Gong, the Duke Xiang of Qin. (See an article by Professor Li Feng entitled ‘Lixian
Chutu Qinguo Zaoqi Tongqi Ji Jisi Yizhi Lungang” p. 55 – 67 of Issue 5 for 2011
of Wenwu Cultural Relics magazine.

Similar examples:
- Two bronze vessels gui from the same set (with the same design and same
inscription), now in the Shanghai Museum, are illustrated by Chen Peifen, Xia
Shang Zhou Qingtongqi Yanjiu, Dong Zhou Bian, Volume Shang, Shanghai, p.
41 – 43, n° 449

58 59