Page 165 - Sotheby's NYC September 20 2022 Forging An Empire Bronzes

Inlaid bronzes were first produced during the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BC). While the early
copper inlays that were added to the mold before the bronzes were cast were limited to simple designs
and silhouettes, more vivid designs were soon created by incising the bronze after casting and filling the
grooves with precious and semi-precious stones, such as turquoise and malachite.

The geometric designs found on bronzes of this period are thought to have been inspired by the fluid
designs found on contemporaneous lacquer, which gained great popularity during this period. Early
Warring States lacquerwares derived many of their decorative motifs, primarily interlaced designs, from
bronze art. See, for example the painted lacquer dou from the early Warring States period, circa 433 BC,
discovered in the tomb of Marquis Yi at Leigudun, Suxian, Hubei province, illustrated in The Golden Age
of Chinese Archaeology. Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China, National Gallery of
Art, Washington, D.C., 1999, cat. no. 108. However, by the mid-Warring States period, many new motifs in
lacquer had emerged and, especially in the south, a curvilinear style gradually prevailed, demonstrated
by fluid inlay designs, such as those seen on an inlaid bronze dou discovered in Fenshuiling, Changzhi,
Shanxi province, illustrated in Wu Hung, ‘The Art and Architecture of the Warring States Period,’ Michael
Loewe and Edward L. Shaughnessy (eds.), The Cambridge History of Ancient China. From the Origins of
Civilization to 221 B.C., Cambridge, 1999, p. 683, fig. 10.13.

The present fang hu belongs to an impressive array of bronze vessels, each brilliantly inlaid with abstract
designs arranged in horizontal registers. Compare the famous copper-inlaid fang hu excavated from the
burial grounds of the kings of the state of Zhongshan in Hebei, Pingshan Sanji Gongshe at Zhongshan,
now in the Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, illustrated Wu Hung, ibid., p. 684, fig. 10.14 and Jenny So,
Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collection, New York, 1995, fig. 109. Another
fang hu, although missing its original inlay, formerly in the collection of Alfred F. Pillsbury and now in
the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis (accession no. 50.46.98), is illustrated in Max Loehr,

錯嵌青銅器始見於春秋時期。早期工藝是於鑄造前 豆，錄於巫鴻、魯惟一及夏含夷合編，〈The Art
在模具中加入銅飾，因此只局限於簡單的形制。後 and Architecture of the Warring States Period〉，《The
來的製法則是在成器表面的凹槽裡嵌入銅飾，或 Cambridge History of Ancient China. From the Origins
填進寶石，如綠松石、孔雀石等，整體外觀更加富 of Civilization to 221 B.C.》，劍橋，1999年，頁683
麗典雅。 ，圖10.13。
漆器在戰國時期非常流行，其華麗的圖案可能影響 本品出自一組青銅佳器瑰藏，以細膩的錯嵌工藝
了青銅器的幾何紋飾。戰國初期，漆器上的交錯紋 在壺身橫紋寬帶上組成抽象圖案為點綴。相近作
樣很多時候借鑒自青銅器，參見出土於湖北隨縣 例可見中山王方壺，出土於中山國王一號墓，現
擂鼓墩曾侯乙墓的戰國初期（約公元前433年）漆 藏於東京國立博物館，錄於巫鴻等人作，前述出
豆，載圖於《The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology. 處，頁684，圖10.14。兩件相似的方壺，錄於蘇芳
Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of 淑，《Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M.
China》，美國國家美術館，華盛頓，1999年，編 Sackler Collections》，卷III，紐約，1995年，圖109
號108。然而，到了戰國中期，尤其是在南方，以 及112。另一例參照，鑲嵌的金石雖缺失，壺身同
優美曲線和鑲嵌工藝為主的新式紋樣在漆器中開 樣隔飾橫紋，屬 Alfred F. Pillsbury 舊藏，現藏於明
始湧現，並且此新式紋樣也可在同時期的青銅器 尼阿波利斯美術館，編號50.46.98，錄於羅樾，
找到。例如，出土於山西長治分水嶺的青銅錯金

162 POWER / CONQUEST: THE FORGING OF EMPIRES