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Lot Essay
Acquired in July 1993.
The inscription on the interior of the vessel and cover reads
Jing Diao/Shu zha xiao xu, yong lü, yong De, yong shan.
Meishou duofu, qi wan nian wei ji
which may be translated as
"Jing Shu made this small vessel [for ceremonial purposes when travelling], for the sacrificial De ceremony, and to worship the mountains. May longevity and good fortune not end after ten thousand years."
A xu of similar shape and from the same period, but with different handles, is illustrated in Chen Peifen, Ancient Chinese Bronzes in the Shanghai Museum, London, 1995, pl. 47, in the Catalogue to the Special Exhibition of Grain Vessels of Shang and Chou Dynasties in the Palace Museum, Taiwan, 1985, p. 335, pl. 80, and in Masterworks of Chinese Bronze in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, 1973, pl. 19. A xu with comparable handles but without the D-motifs is illustrated in the Catalogue to the Special Exhibition of Grain Vessels of the Shang and Chou Dynasties.
Chen mentions that both the fu, which is rectangluar, and the xu, which is of oval shape, were food containers which emerged during the middle to later Western Zhou period. The xu in the Shanghai Museum is evidence that the Jin kingdom's bronze casting industry had by that period achieved a level which was comparable to that of the Zhou royal house.
The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. C101x77 is consistent with the dating of this lot.
The inscription on the interior of the vessel and cover reads
Jing Diao/Shu zha xiao xu, yong lü, yong De, yong shan.
Meishou duofu, qi wan nian wei ji
which may be translated as
"Jing Shu made this small vessel [for ceremonial purposes when travelling], for the sacrificial De ceremony, and to worship the mountains. May longevity and good fortune not end after ten thousand years."
A xu of similar shape and from the same period, but with different handles, is illustrated in Chen Peifen, Ancient Chinese Bronzes in the Shanghai Museum, London, 1995, pl. 47, in the Catalogue to the Special Exhibition of Grain Vessels of Shang and Chou Dynasties in the Palace Museum, Taiwan, 1985, p. 335, pl. 80, and in Masterworks of Chinese Bronze in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, 1973, pl. 19. A xu with comparable handles but without the D-motifs is illustrated in the Catalogue to the Special Exhibition of Grain Vessels of the Shang and Chou Dynasties.
Chen mentions that both the fu, which is rectangluar, and the xu, which is of oval shape, were food containers which emerged during the middle to later Western Zhou period. The xu in the Shanghai Museum is evidence that the Jin kingdom's bronze casting industry had by that period achieved a level which was comparable to that of the Zhou royal house.
The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. C101x77 is consistent with the dating of this lot.