Page 169 - Christies March 15 2017 Fujita Museum

Fig. 3. Bronze fanglei, late Shang dynasty, 20 7 in. (53 cm.) Fig. 4. Bronze fanglei, late Shang dynasty, 24 5 in. (62.5 cm.) high. Fig. 5. Another view of the Sumitomo fanglei, late
high. The Shanghai Museum Collection. After Zhongguo
qingtongqi quanji (The Complete Collection of Chinese
Bronzes), vol. 4, Beijing, 1998, no. 113.
圖三 商晚期 亞 方罍 上海博物館藏
The Sumitomo Collection, Kyoto. After Sen-oku Hakko: Chugoku Shang dynasty. After Robert W. Bagley, Shang
kodoki hen, Kyoto, 2002, p. 97, no. 114. Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections,
Cambridge, 1987, p. 106, fg. 132.
圖四 商晚期 青銅饕餮紋方罍 京都泉屋博古舘藏
圖五 商晚期 青銅饕餮紋方罍 京都泉屋博古舘藏
（側視）
The fanglei (lot 524) represents one of the most monumental and architectural shapes in the
repertoire of Anyang bronzes. A pair of fanglei without foot or fanges was found in the Fu Hao tomb
(illustrated in Tomb of Lady Hao at Yinxu in Anyang, Beijing, 1980, pl. 32). In their comprehensive
survey of Shang and Zhou fanglei vessels, archaeologists Xiang Taochu and Wu Xiaoyan suggested
that fanglei without fanges are the earliest type.6 There are two examples that are similar to the Fujita
fanglei, one the Deng Ni fanglei in the Liaoning Provincial Museum, and one without a cover in the
Shanghai Museum (see Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji [Complete Collection of Chinese Bronzes], vol.
4, Beijing, 1998, nos. 112 and 113, respectively). (Fig. 3) Comparing these vessels to the Fujita fanglei,
the fanges on the Shanghai and Liaoning fanglei were cast with projections at the top, indicating a
relatively later date. Another fanglei found in Beiyao, Luoyang city resembles the decorative scheme
of the Fu Hao fanglei but bears fanges that are very similar to the fanges on the Fujita fanglei
(illustrated in ibid, vol. 5, no. 177). Therefore, the date of the Luoyang and the Fujita fanglei should be
earlier than the Shanghai Museum example. The most comparable fanglei to the Fujita example are in
the Sumitomo Collection, Kyoto (Figs. 4 and 5) and in the Nezu Museum, Tokyo (see Sen-oku Hakko:
Chugoku kodoki hen, Kyoto, 2002, p. 97, no. 114 and Kanzo In Shu no seidoki, Tokyo, 2009, p. 33, no.
12, respectively). These two fanglei share a number of similarities with the Fujita fanglei including the
shape, the arrangement of decoration, and the casting technique. It is possible the Sumitomo, Nezu
and Fujita fanglei may have come from the same set and could be dated to the early Yinxu period.
In terms of the casting, the most remarkable feature of the Fujita fanglei is the use of the pre-casting
technique. Many high-relief appendages, such as the D-shaped handles, were made in advance
and then inserted into the mold for the vessel so as to be locked in place when the molton bronze
was poured. Pre-casting is a rather rare technique employed by Shang bronze casters. The earliest
known Shang bronze that utilized this technique is a jia vessel with phoenix-shaped fnials found in
Hejia village, Qishan County, Shaanxi province (illustrated in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji [Complete
Collection of Chinese Bronzes], vol. 4, Beijing, 1998, nos. 59-61). This technique was frst invented in
southern foundries and was later introduced to Anyang. Shang archaeology has proven that the higher
the status of the owner, the more diverse his/her bronzes were; some of these bronzes also display a
synthesis of diverse artistic and technological sources as seen on the Fujita fangzun and fanglei.
6 Wu Xiaoyan, Xiang Taochu, ‘Shangzhou qingtongqi fanglei xulie ji Min fanglei de niandai wendi’ (Issues on the Chronology
of Shang and Zhou fanglei and the date of Min fanglei), Wenwu, February 2016, pp. 57-72.
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