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Lot Essay
The four-character inscription cast in the interior of the cover reads Ran zuo zong yi (Ran made this yi for his ancestors).
While the basic shape of the present vessel conforms to that of classic fanglei, this example is notable for its austerity and simplicity of surface detail. Hayashi Minao in Inshu Jidai Seidoki Monyo no Kenkyu, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1984, pl. 44 (lower left), illustrates a fanglei that is similar in the simplicity of its decoration and in its proportions, although the cover on that example has rounded edges rather than the straight edges seen on the current cover. A fanglei of larger size (46.4 cm. high) and taller proportions, but exhibiting a similar angularity in shape and relative sparseness of decoration, that includes bands with whorl bosses and bow-string bands, is illustrated in Bronzes de la Chine Antique du XVIII au III siecles avant J.C., Milan, 1988, p. 113, no. 37. Similar angularity of shape can also be seen in a fangyou from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Eric Lidow included in the exhibition, Ancient Ritual Bronzes of China, Los Angeles Museum of Art, 3 February - 26 April 1976, p. 53, no. 31. The surface detail of the Lidow fangyou is even more spare than that of the present vessel, employing only pairs of horizontal bow-string bands as decoration.
Another noteworthy feature of the present fanglei is its unusually small size, and very few examples of such small size appear to be recorded. A fanglei with more elaborate decoration and more rounded shape in the Kurokawa Research Institute of Ancient Culture, measuring 24 cm. high and lacking its cover, is illustrated by Sueji Umehara in Nihon Shucho Shina Kodo Seika, vol. 1, Osaka, 1959-1964, no. 20. See, also, the fanglei with cover of small size (31.5 cm. high) sold in these rooms, 17 September 2008, lot 554.
According to Jessica Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. IIB, Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, 1990, p. 606, plain fanglei were made and used alongside the highly decorated examples in both the Shang and Zhou periods, and that the vessel form "did not long survive the Zhou conquest and disappeared from the vessel repertory before middle Western Zhou."
While the basic shape of the present vessel conforms to that of classic fanglei, this example is notable for its austerity and simplicity of surface detail. Hayashi Minao in Inshu Jidai Seidoki Monyo no Kenkyu, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1984, pl. 44 (lower left), illustrates a fanglei that is similar in the simplicity of its decoration and in its proportions, although the cover on that example has rounded edges rather than the straight edges seen on the current cover. A fanglei of larger size (46.4 cm. high) and taller proportions, but exhibiting a similar angularity in shape and relative sparseness of decoration, that includes bands with whorl bosses and bow-string bands, is illustrated in Bronzes de la Chine Antique du XVIII au III siecles avant J.C., Milan, 1988, p. 113, no. 37. Similar angularity of shape can also be seen in a fangyou from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Eric Lidow included in the exhibition, Ancient Ritual Bronzes of China, Los Angeles Museum of Art, 3 February - 26 April 1976, p. 53, no. 31. The surface detail of the Lidow fangyou is even more spare than that of the present vessel, employing only pairs of horizontal bow-string bands as decoration.
Another noteworthy feature of the present fanglei is its unusually small size, and very few examples of such small size appear to be recorded. A fanglei with more elaborate decoration and more rounded shape in the Kurokawa Research Institute of Ancient Culture, measuring 24 cm. high and lacking its cover, is illustrated by Sueji Umehara in Nihon Shucho Shina Kodo Seika, vol. 1, Osaka, 1959-1964, no. 20. See, also, the fanglei with cover of small size (31.5 cm. high) sold in these rooms, 17 September 2008, lot 554.
According to Jessica Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. IIB, Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, 1990, p. 606, plain fanglei were made and used alongside the highly decorated examples in both the Shang and Zhou periods, and that the vessel form "did not long survive the Zhou conquest and disappeared from the vessel repertory before middle Western Zhou."