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AN ARCHAIC BRONZE RITUAL FOOD The first pictogram from the inscription on the present
VESSEL (GUI) bronze identifies the owner of the vessel as Lü. An alternative
EARLY WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY interpretation of this pictogram considers it as a compound
character reading Xing Lü. The history of the Lü clan can be
the deep rounded sides finely cast with a wide register traced to the Shang dynasty, as the same pictogram can
of repeating leiwen diamond ground, each unit centered be found on a few late Shang bronzes. See a gui from the
by a protruding boss, below a narrow band of serpents Arthur M. Sackler Collection, now in the National Museum
interrupted by mythical beast-masks in high relief and an of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (acc.
everted rim, the body set with a pair of loop handles issuing no. S1987.51), published in Robert W. Bagley, Shang Ritual
from beast masks and with pendent hooks, the tall, slightly Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Washington,
splayed foot with a further band of serpents, the interior D.C. and Cambridge, 1987, pl. 103; and a fangyi in the
cast with an inscription translating to ‘Lü made this precious Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc. no. 1985.214.2),
sacrificial vessel for Father Yi’ illustrated in Wu Zhenfeng, op. cit., vol. 24, no. 13465. The
Diameter 10⅛ in., 25.7 cm presence of the Lü family continued after the Shang empire
was conquered by the Zhou, as the same clan symbol
PROVENANCE appears on several early Western Zhou bronzes, including a
Christie’s New York, 18th September 1997, lot 323. gui excavated in Fufeng county, Shaanxi in 1984, illustrated
in Liu Yu and Lu Yan, eds, Jinchu Yin Zhou jinwen jilu
LITERATURE [Compilation of recently discovered bronze inscriptions], vol.
Richard A. Pegg and Zhang Lidong, The MacLean Collection: 2, Beijing, 2002, pl. 409; a you with an elongated body from
Chinese Ritual Bronzes, Chicago, 2010, pl. 18. the Pillsbury Collection, now in the Minneapolis Institute
of Art, Minneapolis (acc. no. 50.46.97a,b), published in
The present gui is notable for its elaborate decoration, which The Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social
combines both the ‘diamond and boss’ pattern and serpent
motifs. While both designs were popular during the late Sciences, Yinzhou jinwen jicheng [Compendium of Yin and
Zhou bronze inscriptions], Beijing, 2007, no. 05090; and
Shang to early Western Zhou dynasty, a combination of the another you formerly in the C.T. Loo Collection, published in
two is especially rare. Very few examples, which have been Wu Zhenfeng, op. cit., vol. 23, no. 12845.
attributed to the early Western Zhou period, appear to be
recorded. See a bronze gui raised on a square pedestal from $ 100,000-150,000
the Palace Museum, Beijing, similarly decorated around
the body with bosses on a diamond ground and bands of
serpents encircling the foot and neck. The rubbing of the 西周初 旅簋
vessel is illustrated in Wu Zhenfeng, Shang Zhou qingtongqi 銘文：
mingwen ji tuxiang jicheng [Compendium of inscriptions and 旅作父乙寶尊彝
images of bronzes from Shang and Zhou dynasties], vol. 1,
Shanghai, 2012, no. 04036. Another related example is the 來源：
famous Hong gui in the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai. This 紐約佳士得1997年9月18日，編號323
remarkable vessel is supported on four legs and set with a
pair of elephant handles. The body is similarly decorated 出版：
with the ‘diamond and boss’ pattern and a narrow band of 彭銳查及張立東，《The MacLean Collection: Chinese
serpents around the neck; see Chen Peifen, Xia Shang Zhou Ritual Bronzes》，芝加哥，2010年，圖版18
qingtongqi yanjiu: Xi Zhou pian, shang [Study of archaic
bronzes from Shang, Shang and Zhou dynasties: Western
Zhou dynasty, vol. 1], Shanghai, 2004, pl. 231.

52 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N10748 IMPORTANT ARCHAIC BRONZES FROM THE MACLEAN COLLECTION 53