Page 14 - Status & Ritual Chinese Archaic Bronzes

Lot 14 register, for example. In addition, many vessels from the late
Western Zhou period (9th-early 8th century BC) sport geometric
Lot 3 decoration: sometimes simplified and abstracted renditions
of earlier motifs, sometimes simple, strap-work bands that
Lot 22 divide the surface into quadrants, sometimes forms that recall
feathers or scales (lot 9), sometimes entirely new designs that
12 delight in undulating bands (lot 17) or interlaced elements.
In addition, openwork designs found a measure of popularity
as embellishment for the bases of vessels (lot 17) and the
handles of covers (lot 22).

Though the form of most Chinese bronze vessels is geometric
in character – circular, square, elliptical – already in the Shang
dynasty a few vessels assumed naturalistic forms: the shape
of an animal or bird, for example, as evinced by the famous
rhinoceros-shaped zun wine vessel in the Asian Art Museum,
San Francisco (B60B1+)2, the water-buffalo-form zun vessel
in the Harvard Art Museums (1919.103)3, and the elephant-
shaped huo wine vessel in the Freer-Sackler Gallery of Art
(F1936.6a-b)4, among others. The charming bird that graces
this collection’s he wine ewer (lot 24) gives expression to that
rare undercurrent of naturalistic representation, as does the
spotted feline that serves as the handle on the late Warring
States-period chunyu ceremonial drum (lot 5).

Early in the Eastern Zhou period (770-221 BC), the traditional
preference for vertical flanges that segmented vessel surfaces
released its hold in favor of unified surfaces with uninterrupted,
flowing designs, just as bold design motifs set against
elaborate background patterns gave way to small, interlinked
design units that texture the surfaces. The covered ding food
vessel (lot 9)

illustrates this trend to perfection. Its decorative registers
feature repeating, stylised, C-shaped dragons that unify and
enliven the vessel’s surfaces.

By the late Eastern Zhou period, better known as the
Warring States period (475-221 BC), intricate patterning
had supplanted the S- and C-shaped dragons and kindred
motifs inherited from the early Eastern Zhou, as evinced by
this collection’s elegant dou food-serving vessel (lot 23); a
compressed globular bowl elegantly perched atop a slender
columnar stalk that rises from a flaring circular foot, the dou
boasts dense scrollwork over its splayed foot. Such vessels