.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The yi was a water vessel that was often used in conjunction with a pan for the ritual washing of hands, which is confirmed by the two having been found together in tombs, usually with the yi in the pan. It was a late Western Zhou adaptation of the gong and the he, and continued into the Eastern Zhou period.
A yi of similar proportions and raised on four similar flat dragon-form legs, but of smaller size (26.5 cm. long) and cast below the rim with a band of stylized dragons as opposed to the angular scroll seen on the current vessel, is in the Shanghai Museum and illustrated in Zhongguo Qingtongqi Quanji - 6 - Xi Zhou (2), Beijing, 1997, p. 143, no. 147, where it is dated late Western Zhou.
The inscription cast on the interior of the present yi may be translated, '[] [] of the Fu Family made this precious object. Their descendents for the next ten thousand years will cherish and enjoy it forever.'
A yi of similar proportions and raised on four similar flat dragon-form legs, but of smaller size (26.5 cm. long) and cast below the rim with a band of stylized dragons as opposed to the angular scroll seen on the current vessel, is in the Shanghai Museum and illustrated in Zhongguo Qingtongqi Quanji - 6 - Xi Zhou (2), Beijing, 1997, p. 143, no. 147, where it is dated late Western Zhou.
The inscription cast on the interior of the present yi may be translated, '[] [] of the Fu Family made this precious object. Their descendents for the next ten thousand years will cherish and enjoy it forever.'