Page 117 - Deydier VOL.2 Meiyintang Collection of Chinese Bronses

174. Ritual bronze wine vessel owl-shaped fangjia
Shang dynasty, Yinxu period, circa 13 – 11 centuries bc.
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商代殷墟時期鶚形青銅方斝
Height: 24.5 cm, Length: 17 cm

An extremely rare ritual bronze wine vessel fangjia in the Provenance:
shape of two owls joined back to back. The magnificent ▪ Private Collection, Japan.
body of the vessel, cast in the form of a pair of conjoined ▪ The Wang Collection, Taipei, Taiwan.
full-bodied, well-plumed owls with large, well-formed, ▪ Galerie Christian Deydier, Paris, France
sharp, protruding beaks and large, alert, round eyes, is
supported on four thick, triangular legs which taper off Note:
at their bottoms to end in pointed, almost sword-blade- ▪ To our knowledge, no other such double-owl fangjia
like tips. From one side of the vessel, at the point where has been so far recorded, making this piece a unique
the owls converge, a semi-circular handle emerges from and exceptional Shang dynasty bronze.
the mouth of an ox-like, horned creature. The top of the
vessel bears a rectangular cover with rounded corners,
surmounted by a small, arch-like, semi-circular handle.
The cover is decorated on the sides above the owls’ heads
with the owls’ eyebrows in low relief. From the space
between each pair of owl’s eyes rises a thick mushroom-
like tenon, consisting of a square stem surmounted
by a sloping roof-like cover, the four sides of which are
decorated with crisply cast taotie masks.

The whole vessel is covered with a beautiful light green
patina.

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