Page 32 - Christies September 13 to 14th Fine Chinese Works of Art New York

Quadrilateral (fang) vessels had great signifcance
to the Shang and Zhou ruling elite, and are much
rarer than their rounded-form counterparts.
The frst vessel type to be cast in square cross-
section is the ding, such as the massive early
Shang fangding (100 cm. high) found in Duling,
Zhengzhou city, illustrated in Shangyi yiyi sifang
zhiji, Hefei, 2013, p. 61. According to scholars,
ibid., p. 60, the casting of fangding is more dificult
than round ding, and massive fangding vessels
were reserved for nobility of the highest rank and
symbolize royal power.
Two very similar fangding bearing Ya Chou clan
signs in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, are
illustrated in Shang Ritual Bronzes in the National
Palace Museum Collection, Taipei, 1998, pp. 560-
69, nos. 96 and 97. An almost identical fangding
sold at Christie’s New York, 22 March 2012,
lot 1508. Another similar fangding but lacking
the intaglio decoration on the legs was sold at
Christie’s Hong Kong, 31 May 2017, lot 3109.

(another view)

Accompanying line drawing by Hongwei Dong.

30