LATE SHANG-EARLY WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, 11TH CENTURY

The inscription consists of two characters xiang ning (a clan sign), followed by fu xin (Father Xin). The two-character clan sign, xiang ning, consists of an altar positioned below two figures kneeling before a vessel. It is believed to be the pictographic version of the character for banquet in Chinese. A similar clan sign can be found on a late Shang jue in the Shanghai Museum illustrated in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji - 3 - Shang (3), Beijing, 1997, p. 26, no. 26.

Compare the similar you illustrated by M. Sullivan in Chinese Ceramics, Bronzes and Jades in the Collection of Sir Alan and Lady Barlow, London, 1963, no. B8, pl. 151.