Page 64 - 2021 March 18 to 19th, Important Chinese Works of Art, Christie's New York City

The inscription cast below the handle and repeated on the interior of Bronze he, such as the present example, decorated with taotie on each
the cover is a single clan sign, Ran, followed by two characters Fu Bing of the three lobed sections of the body, which enhance the form of the
(Father Bing), indicating that this vessel was made for Father Bing of the vessel, are extremely rare. A vessel of similar size (31.7 cm. high), form
Ran clan. Such dedicatory inscriptions appear on sacral vessels that were and decoration, with an inscription consisting of a single clan sign, Shan,
used in ceremonies honoring ancestral spirits; they generally include the followed by Fu Ding (Father Ding), was sold at Christie’s New York, 21
name of the person whose spirit is being honored, sometimes a clan sign, September 2004, lot 149, and subsequently published in J.J. Lally & Co.,
and occasionally a designation of the vessel type. Chinese Archaic Bronzes, The Collection of Daniel Shapiro, New York,
2014, pp. 22-23, no. 6. Two other published examples of this type are
The tripod he form is based on Neolithic pottery prototypes, seen as known, including a smaller vessel (22.8 cm. high), known as the Fu Ding
early as the Erlitou culture (19th-17th century BC) and was made in He, in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in
bronze by the Erligang culture (16th-14th century BC). A Shang-dynasty Shang Ritual Bronzes in the National Palace Museum Collection, Taipei,
Anyang-period version of the he form, with a tall egg-shaped body and 1998, pp. 164-67, no. 11; and another with related decoration in the Avery
small cover, was excavated from the tomb of Fu Hao, and is illustrated Brundage Collection, is illustrated by R.-Y. Lefebvre d'Argencé in Ancient
by J. Rawson in Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Chinese Bronzes in the Avery Brundage Collection, Asian Art Museum of
Collections, vol. IIB, Cambridge, 1990, p. 664, fig. 112.1. The present vessel San Francisco, San Francisco, 1977, pp. 22-23, pl. VI. See, also, the he of
is more representative of the late Shang-early Western Zhou period, with similar form, dated to the late Shang or early Western Zhou period, but
its smoothly divided tri-lobed body and wider circular cover attached decorated with a simple band of dragons encircling the body and cover,
with a single large link, and the spout rising diagonally from the shoulder in the Arthur M. Sackler Collection, illustrated by J. Rawson in Western
opposite the C-shaped handle. The he evolved to a more squat form with Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. IIB,
shorter legs, more pronounced lobes and a wider, flared neck during the Cambridge, 1990, p. 662-63, no. 112.
early to middle Western Zhou period.

此盉鋬下及蓋內對銘，各鑄有一族徽「冉」，以及「父丙」兩字，表明此盉是為 器身三袋腹均飾饕餮紋之青銅盉，視覺效果突出，然較為罕見。紐約佳士得於
冉族一位叫丙的父輩所製。青銅禮器在祭祀中被用於向祖先供奉酒、食，其上 2001年9月21日拍賣一件與本件冉父丙盉尺寸（高31.7公分）、器形及紋飾相似一
往往鑄有某一祖先的名字以示尊崇，這類銘文有時帶有族徽，偶爾也會註明所 例，拍品149號，該盉鑄有族徽「山」以及「父丁」兩字 。另有兩件近似例見諸出
作的器形。 版，一為尺寸較小的父丁盉（高22.8公分），為國立故宮博物院所藏，載於《故
宮商代青銅禮器圖錄》，1998年，頁164-67，編號11； 另一件為Avery Brundage
三足盉的器形源於新石器時代的陶器，最早可追溯至二里頭文化（公元前十九 所藏，飾相似紋飾，載於René-Yvon Lefebvre d'Argencé ，《Ancient Chinese
世紀至十七世紀），青銅盉則出現於二里崗文化（公元前十六世紀至十四世紀） Bronzes in the Avery Brundage Collection》，舊金山，1977年，頁22-23，圖版
。安陽殷墟婦好墓出土有一件盉，長卵身，帶小蓋，載於J. Rawson，《Western VI。賽克勒舊藏一件商晚期/西周早期之盉，器形與本盉相似，但紋飾較簡單，
Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections》，卷 IIB，劍 僅於頸部和蓋飾龍紋窄帶一周，見J. Rawson，《Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes
橋，1990年，頁664，圖版112.1。本件冉父丙盉則為商晚期/西周早期的代表作， from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections》，卷IIB ，劍橋，1990年，頁662-63，編
其渾圓的袋腹和蓋以一雙環形鏈相連，流與C形鋬相對而置。進入西周早期至 號112。
中期，盉器形有所改變，腿變短、袋腹分隔明顯且變寬、口外侈較甚。