Page 250 - Christie's Asia Week March 2024 Chinese Art

IMPORTANT CHINESE ART INCLUDING THE COLLECTION OF DOROTHY TAPPER GOLDMAN 重要中४藝術暨高曼珍藏

The Property of a Gentleman
1139
A RARE SET OF BRONZE RITUAL CLEANSING The pan and yi were used in conjunction to form a set of vessels for
VESSELS, YI AND PAN the ritual washing of hands. Such vessels would have been included
LATE WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, 8TH CENTURY BC in the ritual vessel sets "required by an individual or family of a given
period to perform the customary ritual food and wine offerings to
Yi: 9º in. (23.3 cm.) long the ancestors." See J. Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from
Pan: 11¿ in. (28.2 cm.) wide across handles the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. IIA, Washington, DC and
$20,000-30,000 Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1990, p. 98. Such a set, of middle Western
Zhou date, from Shaanxi Fufeng Qijiacun M19, is illustrated in a line
PROVENANCE: drawing, ibid., p. 99, fig. 142d.
Acquired in Hong Kong in the early 1990s.
Not only is it very rare to find a set of these vessels still together, but
ૈ♥珍藏 also to find a set with this unusual simple decoration of horizontal
西周晚期 Ռ元עՋˠ紀 青銅匜及青銅盤ˏ組 grooves. For the more typical three-legged yi, see J. So, Eastern Zhou
Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, New York, 1995,
Ϝ源
1990年代׀Ն藏於香港 p. 340, no. 68, for an example dated to the early Spring and Autumn
period, 8th century BC, which has a band of S-shaped dragons below
the rim and a more prominant dragon-headed handle. Also illustrated,
pp. 342-3, figs. 68.1 and 68.3, are two further three-legged yi, one in the
Honolulu Academy of Arts and one in the Sen'oku Hakkokan, Kyoto,
which feature bands of stylized dragon scroll below the rim.

The Property of a Gentleman
1138
A BRONZE RITUAL POURING VESSEL, YI
SPRING AND AUTUMN PERIOD, LATE 6TH CENTURY-EARLY 5TH
CENTURY BC
7 in. (17.9 cm.) long
$6,000-8,000
PROVENANCE:
Acquired in Hong Kong in the early 1990s.

A similar tubular spout with animal mask decoration, and a similar low,
rounded foot with rope-twist band can be seen on a yi of larger size
(25 cm. long) from Shanxi Hunyuan Liyu, which is now in the Musée
Guimet, and illustrated by J. So in Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the
Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Washington, D. C., 1995, p. 331, fig. 65.2.
See, also, the yi of larger size (27 cm. long) with a more elaborate, high-
relief mask on the spout, as well as on the handle, from Xiasi Temple,
Xichuan, Henan province, and now in the Henan Provincial Museum,
illustrated in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji (Complete Collection of
Chinese Bronzes), vol. 10: Eastern Zhou 4, Beijing, 1998, no. 71.
ૈ♥珍藏
春秋時期 Ռ元עՍˠ紀末 ̩ˠ紀׀ 青銅匜
Ϝ源
1990年代׀Ն藏於香港 (detail)
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