A PINKISH-RED-ENAMELED ARCHAISTIC PORCELAIN VESSEL AND COVER, ZUN

GUANGXU PERIOD (1875-1908)

Details

A PINKISH-RED-ENAMELED ARCHAISTIC PORCELAIN VESSEL AND COVER, ZUN
GUANGXU PERIOD (1875-1908)
Of archaistic bronze zun shape, the compressed globular body raised on a splayed foot encircled by a twisted chevron border, the shoulder carved with a band of archaistic elements further repeated on the domed cover with everted finial, the interior of the foot inscribed with a twenty-character inscription framed within a rectangular panel, the interior of the cover carved in a line with a four-character inscription reading Shang xiong Ding zun (zun of elder brother Ding)
8¾ in. (22.2 cm.) high

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Lot Essay

The current vessel was modeled after a zun vessel of the same name illustrated in the Xuanhe bo gu tu. For a discussion on Xuanhe bo gu tu (Fig 1.), see lot 1602. The Shang xiong Ding zun recorded in Xuanhe bo gu tu has a handle that has not been reproduced on the current vessel, and it has the same four-character inscription on its cover and on its base reading xiong Ding da X (elder brother Ding), revealing that the vessel was cast by Ding's younger brother. The vessel was thus interpreted to have been either cast by Tai Geng, the seventh ruler of the Shang dynasty for his elder brother Wo Ding, the sixth ruler of the dynasty, or Wai Ren, the twelfth ruler, for his elder brother Zhong Ding, the eleventh ruler.

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