Page 72 - Bonhams Olivier Collection Early Chinese Art November 2018

(inscription on the cover)

The you, as a type of sacrificial vessel for storing alcohol, appears Kwong Yue however indicated that bronzes cast with inscriptions
to have emerged in the late Shang dynasty. Typically cast with a including the character qian should be called qian qi (遣器; ‘burial
compressed pear-shaped body and overhead handle, the vessel form object’) instead of mingqi (明器) which was a common term in ancient
remained prominent during the early and mid-Western Zhou period. China for wares buried with the deceased. Furthermore, inscriptions
which include the character qian may have the function of inventorying.
The present lot exhibits decorative features typical of the early Western This suggests that a number of objects were buried. Qian ce (遣册),
Zhou period, where cast decoration became less elaborate and inventories written on bamboo or wooden slips have been widely
simplified in comparison to earlier examples in the late Shang dynasty found in tombs dated to the Eastern Zhou dynasty and Warring States
with complicated taotie masks covering the body of the vessel. The period in the former areas of the Kingdom of Chu. The inscription on
present lot is cast with crested birds flanked by a thin band of intricate this lot, ‘wei mu zong yi ze bei’, translates as ‘a series of sacrificial
archaic scrolls to the waisted neck, whilst the bulbous lower body is bronzes have been prepared’. This suggests that more than one piece
reserved plain. These features together form a balanced effect which was made for Pi Shu’s mother. Cheung noted six additional bronze
gained popularity in the mid Western Zhou period. vessels, all of which had the inscription including the character ‘qian’,
thus it can be argued that this lot belonged to this group, forming a
The significance of this you lies first with the inscription seen on the complete set of sacrificial bronzes. For a discussion on this group of
bottom of the interior and underneath the cover. The inscription bronzes, see K.Y.Cheung, ‘The Inscriptions of Pi Shu Zun-Shedding
consists of seventeen characters reading: New Light on Dispatch Wares of the Western Zhou’, Bulletin of Institute
of History and Philology, vol.1, Part 3, Taipei, 1999, pp.761-778.
否弔（叔）獻彝，疾不巳（已），母宗彝彝（則）備，用遣母霝
Compare with a similar archaic bronze vessel and cover, you, early
This may be translated as: Zhou dynasty, illustrated by J.Pope in The Freer Chinese Bronzes, vol.I:
Catalogue, Washington, 1967, pp.305, pl.54. Another related bronze
‘Hereby Pi Shu offers this sacrificial vessel. When mother was gravely vessel and cover, you, Early Western Zhou dynasty, is illustrated by
ill, a series of sacrificial vessels have been prepared for her funeral.’ J.Rawson in Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler
Collections: vol.IIB, Washington D.C, 1995, p.494, pl.68.
Although the identity of Pi Shu remains unknown, another unusual
aspect of this inscription is the use of the character qian (遣) on bronze A related archaic bronze you, early Western Zhou dynasty, was sold at
specifically, to refer to a burial object. Sotheby’s New York, 21 March 2018, lot 584; see also a mid Western
Zhou dynasty bronze you of similar shape but with different motif,
The character qian, originally means ‘to send’ or ‘to dispatch’. Cheung which was sold at Christie’s New York, 23 March 2012, lot 1524.

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