Page 186 - Deydier VOL.2 Meiyintang Collection of Chinese Bronses

194. Ritual bronze food vessel fangyan
Late Western Zhou dynasty or early Spring and Autumn period,
circa 9 - 8 centuries bc.
th
th
西周晚期 - 春秋早期青銅方甗
Height: 30 cm

An archaic bronze food vessel fangyan. The undecorated Provenance:
lower section of the vessel is cast in the form of four joined ▪ Oriental Bronzes Ltd, Christian Deydier, London, U.K.
legs with swelling ham-like thighs on much narrower, ▪ Frank Arts Collection, Antwerp, Belgium.
tubular lower sections. The rectangular-shaped upper ▪ Galerie Christian Deydier, Paris, France.
part of the vessel is decorated with three friezes, the
upper and lower of which are cast with the same pattern Exhibited:
of stylized interlocking dragons, while the middle frieze is ▪ The Frank Arts Collection / Hong Kong, Art Asia Fair,
decorated with a band of continuous opening-U-shaped Galerie Christian Deydier, Paris 2011, catalogue no. 10.
waves with hooked scrolls and C-shaped motifs between ▪ Trésors de la Chine ancienne, Bronzes Rituels De La
and inside the waves. The vessel’s inwardly sloping eave- Collection Meiyintang, Musée des arts asiatiques
like rim is surmounted on each of the vessel’s two shorter Guimet, Paris 13 mars - 10 juin 2013, catalogue no. 64.
sides by a portal-shaped looped handle. The vessel is
divided inside between its upper and lower sections by a Published:
pierced strainer-like bronze plaque. ▪ Deydier Ch., The Frank Arts Collection / Hong Kong,
Art Asia Fair, 2011, p. 34 - 35, no. 10.
The vessel has a green patina. ▪ Guimet, Musée des arts asiatiques, Trésors de la
Chine ancienne, Bronzes Rituels De La Collection
Meiyintang, Paris 2013, p. 107, no. 64.

Similar examples:
▪ Square yan are recorded by Hayashi M., In Shu
Jidai Seidoki no Kenkyu (In Shu Seidoki Sora Ichi)
- Conspectus of Yin and Zhou Bronzes, Tokyo 1984,
Vol. 1 – Plates, p. 79 nos. 80 - 81, and p. 80, no. 83.

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