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Lot Essay
The inscriptions cast inside the vessel and cover, each of which consists of eight characters written inside a yaxing, may be interpreted, "Ya Ruo", "Ya Shi", "Ya Shou" and "Ya Xuan", which, according to Li Xueqin, The Glorious Traditions of Chinese Bronzes, p. 72, are clan names of the Yin-Shang period, while "Gui" and the other names are the ancestors to whom sacrifices were offered. The same inscription can be found on a few other bronzes including a very similar fangyi, possibly the pair to the present vessel, formerly in the Avery Brundage Collection, and a yu in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, both published by Chen Mengjia, Yin Zhou qingtongqi fenlei tulu, 1977, A641, R137 and A143, R453, respectively.
Fangyi appear to have been one of the most prized of ritual vessels, as they have been found in fewer and more sumptuous tombs then jue and gu. In Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, p. 92, J. Rawson and E. Bunker, in their discussion of this vessel, note that during the Shang dynasty rare vessels of this type were used in pairs, as seen in the tomb of Fu Hao, Yinxu Fu Hao mu, Beijing, 1980, pls. XVIII (2) and XIX (1 and 2). They are thought to have been used to store wine, and the heavy malachite encrustation in the base of the interior of the present vessel is most likely the remains of some kind of wine made from grain. A distinctive feature of this vessel is the use of leiwen or intaglio decoration on the motifs, which can also be seen on a very similar fangyi included in the Exhibition of Chinese Arts, C.T. Loo & Co., New York, 1 November 1941 - 30 April 1942, no. 32. This feature can also be seen on a related fangyi, illustrated by B. Karlgren, "Bronzes in the Wessén Collection", BMFEA 30, 1958, pls. 1-3.
A fangyi with very similar bands of decoration, but lacking the leiwen ground design and the intaglio decoration on the raised motifs, is in the Palace Museum, Beijing. See, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 27 - Bronze Ritual Vessels and Musical Instruments, Hong Kong, 2006, p. 142, no. 91. (Fig. 1)
Fangyi appear to have been one of the most prized of ritual vessels, as they have been found in fewer and more sumptuous tombs then jue and gu. In Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, p. 92, J. Rawson and E. Bunker, in their discussion of this vessel, note that during the Shang dynasty rare vessels of this type were used in pairs, as seen in the tomb of Fu Hao, Yinxu Fu Hao mu, Beijing, 1980, pls. XVIII (2) and XIX (1 and 2). They are thought to have been used to store wine, and the heavy malachite encrustation in the base of the interior of the present vessel is most likely the remains of some kind of wine made from grain. A distinctive feature of this vessel is the use of leiwen or intaglio decoration on the motifs, which can also be seen on a very similar fangyi included in the Exhibition of Chinese Arts, C.T. Loo & Co., New York, 1 November 1941 - 30 April 1942, no. 32. This feature can also be seen on a related fangyi, illustrated by B. Karlgren, "Bronzes in the Wessén Collection", BMFEA 30, 1958, pls. 1-3.
A fangyi with very similar bands of decoration, but lacking the leiwen ground design and the intaglio decoration on the raised motifs, is in the Palace Museum, Beijing. See, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 27 - Bronze Ritual Vessels and Musical Instruments, Hong Kong, 2006, p. 142, no. 91. (Fig. 1)