Page 28 - Important Early Chinese Ritual Bronzes from a Distinguished European Collection

Line drawing and ink rubbing of the inscription of the present Peng Zhou Zhi published by Liu Tizhi in
Shanzhai jijin lu (The Records of Auspicious Bronzes in the Shanzhai Studio), 1934, vol. 5, p. 49.
本件倗舟觶的綫描圖和銘文拓本在劉體智，《善齋吉金錄》，1934年，卷5，頁49中的著錄。

The clan sign cast inside this vessel depicts a fgure carrying a string of cowrie shells while standing
in a boat. In traditional literature, this clan sign was translated as ‘zi he bei (son bearing cowrie)’. More
recently, most scholars translate it as peng zhou, (literally ‘string of cowrie shells’ and ‘boat’), however,
other scholars translate it as ying zhou, (literally ‘infant’ and ‘boat’). The same clan sign can be found
on a ding vessel from the Sackler Collection, sold at Christie’s New York, 17 March 2017, lot 1006,
and on other bronzes which are listed by R. Bagley in Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler
Collections, Washington, D. C., 1987, p. 459.
The previous owner of this zhi, Yu Xingwu (1896-1984), was a pre-eminent epigraphist, scholar of
ancient artifacts, and collector. Yu Xingwu, whose hall name is Shuangjianchi Zhuren (master of
Shuangjianchi Studio), taught epigraphy and ancient artifacts at Fu Jen Catholic University and later
at Peking University during the Republic period. He became a professor at Jilin University in 1955. As
a scholar-collector, Yu Xingwu focused on pieces with academic signifcance and was very cautious
in their authentication. For him, collecting was not merely a leisurely activity, but a scholarly pursuit in
dating, naming artifacts, and interpreting inscriptions.
An almost identical bronze zhi, with a Shi clan sign, in the Shanghai Museum, is included in the
exhibition catalogue by Wang Tao, Mirroring China’s Past: Emperors, Scholars, and Their Bronzes,
Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, 2018, p. 64, no. 32.

26 POWER and PRESTIGE IMPORTANT EARLY CHINESE RITUAL BRONZES FROM A DISTINGUISHED EUROPEAN COLLECTION