Page 34 - Important Early Chinese Ritual Bronzes from a Distinguished European Collection

The clan sign cast inside the foot of each gu may be read as tie zhu. The
graph tie consists of a pair of ears and the graph zhu is in the shape of
bamboo branches. Both graphs are known as individual clan signs and are
combined as a composite clan sign on the present gu.
The gu is the quintessential vessel type in Shang ritual paraphernalia, and
together with a jue or jiao it forms the basic wine vessel set for aristocrats
to perform rites. The higher the rank of the aristocrat, the greater number
of gu-jue/jiao vessel sets. A set of ten fanggu and ten jiao, bearing Ya Zhi
clan signs, found in Guojiazhuang M160 at Anyang city, is illustrated by
Yue Hongbin, ed., Ritual Bronzes Recently Excavated in Yinxu, Kunming,
2008, pp. 240-41, no. 119. It is, however, very rare to fnd pairs or sets of gu
identifable by their inscriptions.
Another rare feature of the present pair of gu is the extension of the fanges
over the mouth rim. This feature usually appears on vessel types of the
highest status, such as the aforementioned Ya Zhi fanggu, and the fangzun
from the Fujita Museum, which was sold at Christie’s New York, 15 March
2017, lot 523. Only a few gu with fanges extending over the mouth rim
appear to be published: one similar gu with a Zi Wei clan sign, found in
M2508 in the Western district of Anyang city, is illustrated in Shang Ritual
Bronzes in the National Palace Museum Collection, Taipei, 1998, p.291,
fg. 43:2; and another similar gu in the Freer Gallery is illustrated by John
Alexander Pope and Rutherford J. Gettens in The Freer Chinese Bronzes,
vol. 1, Washington D.C., 1967, pp. 68-73, no. 10. (Fig. 1) On these examples,
the fanges not only emphasize the layout of the design but also serve to
enhance the elegant form and sense of large size.

此對觚的圈足内各鑄有兩字族徽，「聑」、「竹」。這二字皆有單獨出現作爲族
徽的例子，在這對觚上則組合作爲一個復合族徽。

觚是商代青銅禮器中不可或缺的一個器形。觚和爵、角一般等量配對出現，一
觚和一爵或角形成一個基本的禮器組合，供貴族進行祭祀。當貴族的身份提
高，他/她們所擁有的觚、爵/角組合也更多。安陽郭家莊M160出土有一組十套
方觚和角，皆鑄有亞址族徽，見岳洪斌編著《殷墟新出土青銅器》，昆明，2008
年，頁240-1，編號119。然而在考古發現以外，如此對聑竹觚這樣帶有相同銘
文成對或成組出現的觚則十分珍罕。
此對聑竹觚的另一個罕見之処在於突出口沿以外的扉棱。大多數觚的器物上
段喇叭形口外都沒有扉棱，而扉棱從喇叭口直上超出口沿以外的更是鳳毛麟
角。這一做法多見於更高等級的器物如前述亞址方觚，以及2017年3月15日
在紐約佳士得拍賣的籐田美術館藏方尊，拍品523號。僅有少數幾件觚的扉
棱採用這一做法，如安陽西區M2508出土的一件子圍觚，載於《故宮商代青
銅禮器圖錄》，台北，1998年，頁291，圖43:2；以及弗利爾美術館藏一例，
見John Alexander Pope及Rutherford J. Gettens，《The Freer
Chinese Bronzes》，卷1，華盛頓，1967年，頁68-73，編號10。 （圖一）
這些器物上的扉棱除了強調紋飾分隔佈局以外更加強了觚充滿張力和建築
Fig. 1 A bronze gu vessel, late Shang dynasty, circa 12th century BC. Collection of
the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, 美感的輪廓，使之富有陽剛之氣。
Washington, D.C.: Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1951.18.
圖一 商晚期 公元前十二世紀 青銅饕餮紋觚 弗利爾及賽克勒藝術館藏

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