Page 81 - Sotheby's Arts of Asia Paris, June 16, 2022

81
PROPERTY FROM A EUROPEAN PRIVATE COLLECTION 西周 青銅簋
A RARE INSCRIBED ARCHAIC BRONZE FOOD 來源 :
VESSEL, GUI Galerie 41，摩納哥，2008年8月18日
WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY
with a rounded body, everted rim and animal-head handles,
decorated around the exterior with confronted birds with
long curly tails raised against a leiwen ground, the interior
inscribed Cong ci jin yu gong yong zuo bao yi
H. 15 cm, 5⅞in. ; L. 28.5 cm, 11¼ in.

PROVENANCE
Galerie 41, Monaco, 18th August 2008.
Récipient en bronze archaïque, gui, dynastie des Zhou
occidentaux
60 000-80 000 €

Vividly decorated with confronted birds with long curly tails Shimin et al. in their book Xizhou qingtongqi fenqi duandai
raised against a leiwen ground, this gui is characteristic of yanjiu / A Study of the Periodization and Dating of Western
bronze casting in the Western Zhou period (c.1046-771 BC). Zhou Bronzes, Beijing, 1999. One, the Yu Zheng Wei gui from
The shape of this vessel, with its rounded body, everted rim the National Palace Museum, Taipei, has been attributed
and animal-head handles, also represents one the most by the authors to the period of King Kang (c. 1040 BC-c.
popular forms of the time. A similar vessel but of smaller size 996 BC) (p. 62, no. 18); another gui, in the Palace Museum,
was excavated in 1957 from Zhaoyuanpo, Chang’an, Shaanxi Beijing, is attributed to the first phrase of the middle
province, now in the National Museum of China, Beijing, Western Zhou period (p. 62, no. 20); and a third example in
illustrated in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji / A Complete the National Museum of China, Beijing, is attributed to the
Collection of Chinese Ancient Bronzes, vol. 5, Western Zhou middle Western Zhou period (p. 65, no. 21). Wu Zhenfeng
1, Beijing, 1996, pl. 61. Gui were used to hold cooked rice or suggests that Cong was active during the first phrase of the
millet in ritual ceremonies. early Western Zhou period (see Wu Zhenfeng, Jinwen renming
huibian [Compilation of the names from bronze inscriptions],
This vessel bears a nine-character inscription, Cong ci jin
yu gong yong zuo bao yi, which can be translated as ‘Cong Beijing, 2006, p. 58).
made this precious vessel from the bronze material gifted by Two other ‘Cong’ vessels are recorded, which may relate to
his master’. A smaller bronze vessel gui cast with the same the present gui, both of which are preserved in the Shanghai
inscription, albeit raised on a square pedestal and adorned Museum. The first, a bronze ding bearing a twelve-character
with different ornaments, attributed to the early Western inscription, attributed to the early or middle Western
Zhou period, is recorded and illustrated in Selected Bronzes Zhou dynasty, is published in The Institute of Archaeology,
in the Collection of the Poly Art Museum, Beijing, 1999, pp. Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Yin Zhou jinwen
63-4. jicheng [Compendium of Yin and Zhou bronze inscriptions],
Beijing, 1984, no. 02461; and the second, an early Western
Very little is known about the owner of this bronze, Cong.
Based on the form and design of the present gui, Cong Zhou dynasty gui cast with five characters to the interior, is
should have been active some time between the early to illustrated in Chen Peifen, Xia Shang Zhou qingtongqi yanjiu
middle Western Zhou dynasty. A small group of bronze gui [Study of archaic bronzes from Shang, Shang and Zhou
of a related form and design have been discussed by Wang dynasties], Shanghai, Western Zhou, vol. 1, 2004, pl. 227.

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