Page 131 - Deydier VOL.2 Meiyintang Collection of Chinese Bronses

178. Pair of ritual bronze food vessels fangding
Shang dynasty, Yinxu period, circa 13 - 11 centuries bc.
th
th
商代殷墟時期青銅方鼎
Height: 22 cm, Length: 21 cm

A pair of extremely rare, square bronze vessels fangding, Provenance:
each supported by four stubby, cylindrical legs decorated ▪ Liu collection, Taipei, Taiwan, acquired before 1949,
with taotie masks. Each of the four sides of the vessels’ probably in Shanghai.
square bodies is divided down its centre by a long, ▪ Galerie Christian Deydier, Paris, France.
protruding, notched flange into two sections, each of
which is decorated with one half of a taotie mask with a Exhibited:
deeply cast horn ending in a sharp, outwardly curling tip ▪ The pair was exhibited in the XXIV ème Biennale des
and a bulging eye, a protruding half mouth and nose, etc., Antiquaires, Grand Palais, Paris, 10 - 21 September,
all on a leiwen background. When each of these halves 2008.
is joined at the vessel’s corner with its counterpart on ▪ One was exhibited by Galerie Christian Deydier at the
the adjoining side of the vessel, the result is an almost Art Asia Fair, Hong Kong, in October 2012, Archaic
three-dimensional taotie mask of exceptional beauty Bronze Vessels from Private Collections, catalogue
and sophistication, making the vessels which these no. 5.
taotie masks adorn, rare and tangible testaments to the ▪ Trésors de la Chine ancienne, Bronzes Rituels De La
expertise and ingenuity of the Chinese bronze craftsmen Collection Meiyintang, Musée des arts asiatiques
of the Shang period. Each side of the inwardly sloping
upper section of the vessels is decorated at its centre with Guimet, Paris 13 mars - 10 juin 2013, catalogue no. 46.
a small, protruding, tiger-like head flanked by stylized kui
dragon motifs on a leiwen background. High, arch-like Published:
handles emerge from the upper rims of the vessels’ sides ▪ Deydier Ch., XXIV ème Biennale des Antiquaires, Grand
to face each other across the vessels’ open tops. Palais, Paris 10 - 21 September 2008, catalogue
p. 4 - 7, (one from the pair).
Bronze with green, maroon and grey patina. ▪ Deydier Ch., Archaic Bronze Vessels from Private
Collections, Art Asia Fair /Hong Kong, October 2012,
catalogue no. 5 (the second of the pair).
▪ Guimet, Musée des arts asiatiques, Trésors de la
Chine ancienne, Bronzes Rituels De La Collection
Meiyintang, Paris 2013, p. 76 - 77, no. 46.

Notes:
▪ The high-relief taotie masks on these vessels are
extremely rare in Shang bronzes. Two you vases are
known with similar decoration:
▫ The first one, discovered in 1963 at Anyang,
Xiaotun, tomb no. 331, is published in Zhongguo
Qingtongqi Quanji, Vol. 3 - Shang, Beijing, 1997,
page 134, no. 133.
▫ The second one, also discovered in Anyang, is
published in Zhongguo Qingtongqi Quanji, Vol.3 -
Shang, Beijing, 1997, page 135, no. 134.
▪ A fanghu, discovered in Anyang, tomb no. 5, in 1967
and published in Zhongguo Qingtongqi Quanji, Vol. 3
- Shang, Beijing, 1997, page 96, no. 63 is also decorated
with similar taotie masks.

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