Page 235 - Christies March 15 2017 Fujita Museum

The inscription cast on the everted rim may be translated, “Zhong Jiang made this ritual li
vessel”. Zhong Jiang is a female aristocrat whose family name is Jiang.
During the 19th century this li was in the collection of Wu Shifen (1796-1856), a native of Haifeng,
Shandong province. Wu Shifen was an epigraphist, calligrapher and Secretary of the Cabinet at the
court of the Daoguang Emperor (1821-1850) and was one of the great collectors of his generation.
A descendant of a renowned Shandong family, Wu was also related through marriage to another
prominent Shandong collector, Chen Jieqi (1813-1884). They collaborated on the ground-breaking
book Fengni kaolue (Researches on clay bullae), in which ancient Chinese clay bullae were recorded
and studied for the frst time.
Li with striated decoration were inspired by pottery prototypes and were popular during the
middle to late Western Zhou dynasty. A set of fve similar li vessels with Wei Bo inscriptions was
found in a hoard in Zhuangbai village, Fufeng county, Shaanxi province, and illustrated by Wu
Zhenfeng in Shangzhou qingtongqi mingwen ji tuxiang jicheng (Complete Collection of Inscriptions
and Images of the Shang and Zhou Bronzes), vol. 6, Shanghai, 2012, pp. 85-89, nos. 2702-2706.
The Wei Bo li have more slender legs and taller proportions than the present Zhong Jiang li and can
be dated by inscription to the latter part of the middle Western Zhou dynasty. A group of late Western
Zhou li vessels with Zhong Ji inscriptions are very similar to the present li. See ibid., pp. 127-133,
nos. 2746-2752.

本器流傳有緒，屢經著錄，其銘文見於《攗古錄金文》，《敬吾心室彜器款識》等書，《攗古錄》中記載其為
海豐吳氏所藏。吳式芬（1796-1856），字子苾，海豐人，道光十四年進士，翰林院編修，官至内閣學士，為
著名收藏家家劉喜海的外甥。吳氏家學淵源，好金石，精鑑賞，平生專攻訓詁之學，並與陳介祺（1813-
1884）為姻親，合箸有《封泥考略》一書。
直紋鬲流行於西周中期到晚期，其器形和裝飾模仿自陶器。近似的直紋鬲可參照陝西扶風縣莊白村一號窖
藏出土 的 五件 微 伯鬲，年代 為西 周中 期（孝王世），其 紋 飾、扉 棱 皆 近 於本件 仲 姜 鬲，惟 足 根 較 細，器 形 較 挺
拔，見吳鎮烽《商周青銅器銘文暨圖像集成》，卷6， 85-89頁，編號2702-2706。另可比傳世仲姞鬲諸
器，其器形比例與本器更加接近，見前揭書127-133頁，編號2746-2752，時代為西周晚期。據儸森的研
究，直紋鬲中足較細器身較高的例子年代早於較敦實的例子，見Jessica Rawson， 《Western Zhou
Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collection》， 劍橋：哈佛大學出版社， 1990年，322
頁。則本件仲姜鬲的年代和仲姞鬲一樣，當以西周晚期為妥。

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