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PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED NEW YORK COLLECTION The fanglei or “square lei” is one of the rarest vessel types among the Eastern
Zhou ritual paraphernalia. A Warring States fanglei of very similar form, but
908 decorated with rectangular panels enclosing dense dragon pattern, was
A RARE MALACHITE-INLAID BRONZE RITUAL WINE VESSEL, found in Sanmenxia City, Henan province, and is illustrated in Zhongguo
FANGLEI wenwu jinghua daquan: Qingtong juan (Compendium of Treasures of Chinese
Cultural Relics: Archaic Bronzes), Hong Kong, 1994, p. 247, no. 886. A
MIDDLE WARRING STATES PERIOD, 4TH CENTURY BC Warring States inlaid fanglei with masks suspending ring handles in the
The vessel of squared, tapering form is decorated on the neck and sides Miho Museum is illustrated in Catalogue of the Miho Museum (The South
in recessed relief with an intricate overlapping geometric design framing Wing), 1997, pp. 184-5, no. 87. Compare, also, a pair of fanglei of similar form
triangular and lozenge-shaped panels containing further geometric patterns found in the early Warring States tomb of Zenghou Yi (Marquis Yi of the
and central forets, flled with malachite inlay. The surface has a smooth dark Zeng State) together with ftted bronze jian basins, illustrated in Zhongguo
brown patina. qingtongqi quanji (The Complete Collection of Chinese Bronzes), Beijing,
8√ in. (22.5 cm.) high 1998, vol. 10, pp. 132-33.

$80,000-120,000 The geometric design flled with malachite inlay found on this vessel is a fne
example of an iconic Warring States period ornamentation style. Two fanghu
PROVENANCE vessels with a similar design of a diagonal grid framing lozenge-shaped
panels, one in the Los Angeles County Museum and the other in the Asian
Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 4-5 November 1965, lot 288. Art Museum of San Francisco, are illustrated by Jenny So, in Eastern Zhou
J.T. Tai & Co., 25 January 1966. Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. III, New York, 1995, fgs.
Arthur M. Sackler Collections. 110 and 112.
Else Sackler, and thence by descent within the family.
戰國中期 青銅鑲嵌幾何紋方罍
LITERATURE

R. Poor, Bronze Ritual Vessels of Ancient China (slide lecture), Intercultural Arts
Press, New York, 1968.

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