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Lot Essay
The inscription consists of the dedication 'Fu Ji' preceded by the character zi (son). Although the significance of the zi character is unclear in this context, some scholars have associated it with the Shang royal house.
In his entry for this liding, Robert Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, 1987, pp. 486-7, no. 93, illustrates a number of similar vessels to support his assertion of a "wide geographic distribution of the type in late Anyang times", with a survival into early Western Zhou. These similar vessels are illustrated pp. 487-9, figs. 93.1-93.7. Another similar example is no. 94 in the catalogue. A similar liding from the collection of Natanael Wessén, which Bagley describes as a mate to the ding in fig. 93.1, is illustrated by B. Karlgren, "Bronzes in the Wessén Collection", BMFEA, No. 30, Stockholm, 1958, pl. 4.
In his entry for this liding, Robert Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, 1987, pp. 486-7, no. 93, illustrates a number of similar vessels to support his assertion of a "wide geographic distribution of the type in late Anyang times", with a survival into early Western Zhou. These similar vessels are illustrated pp. 487-9, figs. 93.1-93.7. Another similar example is no. 94 in the catalogue. A similar liding from the collection of Natanael Wessén, which Bagley describes as a mate to the ding in fig. 93.1, is illustrated by B. Karlgren, "Bronzes in the Wessén Collection", BMFEA, No. 30, Stockholm, 1958, pl. 4.