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Lot Essay
The cover of this vessel is finely cast with three crouching birds with round eyes, flat beaks, and feathered wings connected by two rings of rope pattern. The mid-section of the vessel is unusually decorated with a continuous band of cowrie shells.
Similar ding vessels have been excavated from Warring States burials in Jingshengcun, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, in Zhangzi County, Shanxi Province, and at Xigong, Luoyang (see Shanxi Sheng Kaogu Yanjiusuo and Taiyuan Shi Wenwu Guanli Weiyuanhui ed., Taiyuan Jinguo Zhaoqing mu [Tomb of Jin State Minister Zhao near Taiyuan], Beijing, 1996, pls. 18 and 19; and Shanxi Sheng Kaogu Yanjiusuo ed., “Shanxi Zhangzi xian Dongzhou mu,” Kaogu xuebao 1984, no. 4, pl. 20.5; and Du Naisong, “Ji Luoyang Xigong chutu de jijian tongqi,” Wenwu 1964, no. 11, p. 47). The Xigong vessel is labeled a gui on its inscription, providing information as to its function.
There are also several published examples of covered vases with similar bird-form knobs. See, for example, a Warring States tripod vessel from Houchuan, Shanxian, illustrated in Zhongguo Shehui Kexueyuan Kaogu Yanjiusuo ed., Shanxian Dongzhou Qin Han mu [The Burials of Eastern Zhou, Qin and Han in Shanxian], Beijing, 1994, p. 55; and another example excavated from a Warring States burial in Zhangzi, Shanxi Province, illustrated in Tao Zhenggang and Li Fengshan, “Shanxi Zhangzi xian Dongzhou mu,” Kaogu xuebao 1984, no. 4, p. 519.
Clay molds for the types of knobs found on the present vessel have been recovered at the Houma bronze foundry in Shanxi Province (see Shanxi Sheng Kaogu Yanjiusuo ed., Shangma mudi [Shangma Cemetery], Beijing, 1994, vol. 1, p. 256). The rope pattern and cowrie decoration on the present vessel have also been found on clay molds at Houma (see Shanxi Sheng Kaogu Yanjiusuo ed., Houma zhutong yizhi [Bronze Foundry Sites at Houma], vol. 1, pp. 261–62, 271–72), indicating that the present vessel likely dates to the early Warring States period and was probably made in the Houma foundry.
Similar ding vessels have been excavated from Warring States burials in Jingshengcun, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, in Zhangzi County, Shanxi Province, and at Xigong, Luoyang (see Shanxi Sheng Kaogu Yanjiusuo and Taiyuan Shi Wenwu Guanli Weiyuanhui ed., Taiyuan Jinguo Zhaoqing mu [Tomb of Jin State Minister Zhao near Taiyuan], Beijing, 1996, pls. 18 and 19; and Shanxi Sheng Kaogu Yanjiusuo ed., “Shanxi Zhangzi xian Dongzhou mu,” Kaogu xuebao 1984, no. 4, pl. 20.5; and Du Naisong, “Ji Luoyang Xigong chutu de jijian tongqi,” Wenwu 1964, no. 11, p. 47). The Xigong vessel is labeled a gui on its inscription, providing information as to its function.
There are also several published examples of covered vases with similar bird-form knobs. See, for example, a Warring States tripod vessel from Houchuan, Shanxian, illustrated in Zhongguo Shehui Kexueyuan Kaogu Yanjiusuo ed., Shanxian Dongzhou Qin Han mu [The Burials of Eastern Zhou, Qin and Han in Shanxian], Beijing, 1994, p. 55; and another example excavated from a Warring States burial in Zhangzi, Shanxi Province, illustrated in Tao Zhenggang and Li Fengshan, “Shanxi Zhangzi xian Dongzhou mu,” Kaogu xuebao 1984, no. 4, p. 519.
Clay molds for the types of knobs found on the present vessel have been recovered at the Houma bronze foundry in Shanxi Province (see Shanxi Sheng Kaogu Yanjiusuo ed., Shangma mudi [Shangma Cemetery], Beijing, 1994, vol. 1, p. 256). The rope pattern and cowrie decoration on the present vessel have also been found on clay molds at Houma (see Shanxi Sheng Kaogu Yanjiusuo ed., Houma zhutong yizhi [Bronze Foundry Sites at Houma], vol. 1, pp. 261–62, 271–72), indicating that the present vessel likely dates to the early Warring States period and was probably made in the Houma foundry.