.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The inscription dedicates the vessel to an ancestor posthumously referred to as "Father Ding", of the "Ya Gong" clan, and may be read, "Ya Gong X Fu Ding", the last four characters within the outline of a "Ya" character. "Ya Gong" is a Shang dynasty clan name, and along with a similar type of inscription, is also found on two zun unearthed from the Xiaomintun cemetery in Yinxu, northwest of Anyang in Henan province. See "A Report on the Excavation of the Graves in the Western Locus of Yinxu, 1969-1977", Kaogu xuebao, 1979:1, p. 81, figs. 20 and 21 for the inscriptions, pl. 14 (2) for an illustration of the two vessels, and p. 87 for descriptions of the vessels.
This rare vessel was first recorded in 1842 by the noted late Qing scholar-collector, Wu Rongguang, in his catalogue of bronze inscriptions, Yun Qing Guan jinwen. It was subsequently cited by Wu Shifen (1895) as being in the collection of Pan Shih Cheng, a member of a wealthy merchant family. The dark, smooth patina of this vessel is typical of bronzes that have come from 19th century Chinese collections.
A jiao and cover of comparable size, and with similar decoration on the body of the vessel, is illustrated by M. Girard-Geslan, Bronzes Archaïques de Chine, Musée Guimet, Paris, 1995, pp. 70-5. The cover, which has a loop handle rather than the roof-shaped finial of the present cover, also has two taotie masks, but they are cast facing the pointed ends of the cover rather than on the broad sides. The soft style of casting of the taotie masks on the present jiao and cover, as well as the type of taotie masks themselves, are similar to those of a zun in the Shanghai Museum illustrated in Zhongguo Qingtongqi Quanji - 4 - Shang (4), Beijing, 1995, p. 124, no. 127. The dark satiny patina of the zun also appears to be very similar to that of the present vessel. The same kind of patina can be seen on another zun, with similarly cast decoration, illustrated by J. Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. IIB, pp. 530-1, no. 75.
The result of Oxford thermoluminescence test no. 366K74 is consistent with the dating of this piece. A Technical Examination Report is available upon request.
This rare vessel was first recorded in 1842 by the noted late Qing scholar-collector, Wu Rongguang, in his catalogue of bronze inscriptions, Yun Qing Guan jinwen. It was subsequently cited by Wu Shifen (1895) as being in the collection of Pan Shih Cheng, a member of a wealthy merchant family. The dark, smooth patina of this vessel is typical of bronzes that have come from 19th century Chinese collections.
A jiao and cover of comparable size, and with similar decoration on the body of the vessel, is illustrated by M. Girard-Geslan, Bronzes Archaïques de Chine, Musée Guimet, Paris, 1995, pp. 70-5. The cover, which has a loop handle rather than the roof-shaped finial of the present cover, also has two taotie masks, but they are cast facing the pointed ends of the cover rather than on the broad sides. The soft style of casting of the taotie masks on the present jiao and cover, as well as the type of taotie masks themselves, are similar to those of a zun in the Shanghai Museum illustrated in Zhongguo Qingtongqi Quanji - 4 - Shang (4), Beijing, 1995, p. 124, no. 127. The dark satiny patina of the zun also appears to be very similar to that of the present vessel. The same kind of patina can be seen on another zun, with similarly cast decoration, illustrated by J. Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. IIB, pp. 530-1, no. 75.
The result of Oxford thermoluminescence test no. 366K74 is consistent with the dating of this piece. A Technical Examination Report is available upon request.