Page 21 - Sotheby's Imperial Chiense Porcelain Nov 4 2020 London

137 Pairs of large confronted birds prominently displaying confronted pairs of large birds with arched plumage create
flamboyant plumed crests and tails encircling the head and a continuous, fluid movement that presents a stark contrast
PROPERTY OF A BELGIAN COLLECTOR 西周 青銅鳳鳥紋簋 body fill the space on both sides of this magnificent bronze to the angular compartmented designs on Shang and early
A RARE LARGE ARCHAIC BRONZE RITUAL vessel. In the evolution of this particular motif the birds Western Zhou bronzes.
FOOD VESSEL, GUI 銘文：作寳簋 represented on this gui appear at the height in the middle of Vessels cast with this particular type of large, flamboyant
WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, CA. 10TH CENTURY BC the Western Zhou dynasty. During the Anyang phase of the bird designs are rare. Compare two gui of smaller size with
來源 Shang dynasty, small birds occupied secondary positions in a very similar motif in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington
of large size, the wide rounded body raised on a tall splayed 倫敦蘇富比1986年12月9日，編號14 subordinate registers in the overall designs of ritual bronzes. DC, published in John Alexander Pope, Rutherford John
foot, crisply cast in relief on each side with a pair of prominent Gisele Croes， 布魯塞爾 Only in the early part of the Western Zhou period did bird Gettens, James Cahill and Noel Barnard (eds.), The Freer
confronted birds, each with flamboyant plumed crests, with 布魯塞爾私人收藏 motifs suddenly appear in more prominent placements on Chinese Bronzes, Vol. I, Catalogue, Washington, 1967, pls.
raised eyes and heads turned back towards a high plumed ritual vessels. Parallel to the bird motifs moving to central 69 and 70. Jung Keng illustrates another two gui cast with
tail circling their bodies, all on a ground of leiwen, flanked positions on bronzes, the sizes and forms of birds changed, large birds in his The Bronzes of Shang and Chou, Vol. II,
by flanged handles with intaglio scrolls issuing from horned 出版 an adaptation that was may have been linked to new vessel Yenching Journal of Chinese Studies Monograph Series
bovine heads set with pendant tabs, the base encircled by a 劉雨及盧岩，《近出殷周金文集錄》，北京，2002年， shapes such as you and gui. No. 17, Yenching University, Beijing, 1941, pp. 146 and 147,
narrow band of confronted stylized dragons, the inside with 圖版405 Tall birds with arched plumes and tails appear on vessels of nos. 271 and 272. Compare also closely related examples
three pictograms zuo bao gui, the smooth surface patinated 汪濤及劉雨，《流散歐美殷周有銘青銅器集錄》， more generous rounded proportions such as the present gui including a gui with a cover, from a mid-Western Zhou
to a greenish-brown tone 上海，2007年，圖版85 whose forms they enhanced. Jessica Rawson who describes dynasty tomb excavated at Zhuangbaijia, Fufeng county,
Width across handles 35 cm, 13 ¾ in. the evolution of the bird motif on Western Zhou bronzes, Shaanxi province, published in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji,
吳鎮烽，《商周青銅器銘文暨圖像集成》，卷25，
notes that during the middle Western Zhou period large vol. 5, Beijing, 1996, pl. 59. A gui with a related design in
PROVENANCE 上海，2012年，編號03906 plumed birds motifs on vessels such as gui and you formed a the Palace Museum, Beijing, from the Qing court collection,
Sotheby’s London, 9th December 1986, lot 14. small but influential series and enjoyed comparatively short with similar large bird on the body, is illustrated in The
Gisele Croes, Brussels. lived popularity, see Jessica Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum.
Private Collection, Brussels. Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Washington, Bronze Ritual Vessels and Musical Instruments, Hong Kong,
D.C., 1990, pp. 79-80. On vessels such as the present gui, 2006, pl. 30.
LITERATURE
Liu Yu and Lu Yan (eds.), Jin chu Yin Zhou jinwen jilu
[Compilation of Recently Discovered Archaic Bronze
Inscriptions], Beijing, 2002, pl. 405.
Wang Tao and Liu Yu, A Selection of Early Chinese Bronzes
with Inscriptions from Sotheby’s and Christie’s Sales, Shanghai,
2007, pl. 85.
Wu Zhenfeng, Shangzhou qingtongqi mingwen ji tuxiang
jicheng [Compendium of inscriptions and images of bronzes
from Shang and Zhou Dynasties], vol. 25, Shanghai, 2012, no.
03906.

£ 80,000-120,000

38 Buyers are liable to pay both the hammer price (as estimated above) and the buyer’s premium together with any applicable taxes and Artist’s Resale Right 39
(which will depend on the individual circumstances). Refer to the Buying at Auction and VAT sections at the back of this catalogue for further information.