A pair of archaic bronze ritual wine vessels, gu
Shang or early Western Zhou Dynasty, inscribed Mu Ning Ri Xin
Shang or early Western Zhou Dynasty, inscribed Mu Ning Ri Xin
Each of slender form, rising from a hollow foot to a slightly bulbous middle section and a tall trumpet neck cast with four tapering cicada lappetes decorated with C-scrolls, the base and middle section cast with four segmented flanges serving to divide the section into quadrants, each cast with taotie designs, the interiors of the feet cast with three pictograms, with box. 19.3cm (7 5/8in) high. (3).
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Provenance: The Mengdiexuan Collection
Exhibited:
Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong & Urban Council of Hong Kong, Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, 12 October - 2 December 1990
Hong Kong Museum of Art, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth: Gems of Antiquities Collections in Hong Kong, 21 September 2001 - 5 October 2005
Chinese University Hong Kong Art Museum, Divine Power: The Dragon in Chinese Art, 12 February - 7 November 2012
Published and Illustrated:
J.Rawson and E.Bunker, Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1990, p.116, no.29
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1990?10?12??12?2???????????????????????????????????????
2001?9?21??2005?10?5??????????????????????????
2012?2?12??11?7???????????????????????????
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J.Rawson?E.Bunker?????????????????????????1990???116???29
The pair of the gu vessels belongs to a rare group of ritual bronze vessels made specially commissioned for the female ancestor, mother Ri Xin from the Ning clan, of which only sixteen would appear to be recorded: seven ritual bronzes from the Idemitsu Museum of Art, Tokyo, include a jiao, a gui, a gu, a you, a fangyi, a fangzun and a zun, illustrated in Ancient Chinese Arts in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1989, nos.17, 36, 43, 44, 58, 67 and 76; a further pair of Mu Ning Ri Xin inscribed jiao vessels were sold at Sotheby's London, 10 June 1986, lot 50, one of which was sold later at Christie's New York, 17 March 2017, lot 1011; another pair of jiao vessels, also from the Mengdiexuan Collection, were sold at Christie's New York, 22-23 March 2018, lot 908; see also three bronze vessels from the Mengdiexuan Collection, including a fangding, a zun, and a gui, which were sold at Christie's New York, 22-23 March 2018, lot 909, 910 and 911.
Gu vessels of this elegant form were used as wine containers within a ritual context and date from as early as the Erlitou phase of the Shang dynasty, circa 2000 to 1500 BC. The extant examples dating to this period are generally cast with a single band of decoration and were of stouter form, which becomes more elegant in form and more complex in design further into the dynasty. The introduction of notched flanges to the middle section and foot of the gu seems to occur in the 13th century BC; see a comparable example illustrated by R.W.Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M.Sackler Collections, Washington D.C., 1987, no.31.
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Shang or early Western Zhou Dynasty, inscribed Mu Ning Ri Xin
Shang or early Western Zhou Dynasty, inscribed Mu Ning Ri Xin
Each of slender form, rising from a hollow foot to a slightly bulbous middle section and a tall trumpet neck cast with four tapering cicada lappetes decorated with C-scrolls, the base and middle section cast with four segmented flanges serving to divide the section into quadrants, each cast with taotie designs, the interiors of the feet cast with three pictograms, with box. 19.3cm (7 5/8in) high. (3).
???? ?????? ??
??????????
Provenance: The Mengdiexuan Collection
Exhibited:
Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong & Urban Council of Hong Kong, Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, 12 October - 2 December 1990
Hong Kong Museum of Art, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth: Gems of Antiquities Collections in Hong Kong, 21 September 2001 - 5 October 2005
Chinese University Hong Kong Art Museum, Divine Power: The Dragon in Chinese Art, 12 February - 7 November 2012
Published and Illustrated:
J.Rawson and E.Bunker, Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1990, p.116, no.29
??? ???????
???
1990?10?12??12?2???????????????????????????????????????
2001?9?21??2005?10?5??????????????????????????
2012?2?12??11?7???????????????????????????
???
J.Rawson?E.Bunker?????????????????????????1990???116???29
The pair of the gu vessels belongs to a rare group of ritual bronze vessels made specially commissioned for the female ancestor, mother Ri Xin from the Ning clan, of which only sixteen would appear to be recorded: seven ritual bronzes from the Idemitsu Museum of Art, Tokyo, include a jiao, a gui, a gu, a you, a fangyi, a fangzun and a zun, illustrated in Ancient Chinese Arts in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1989, nos.17, 36, 43, 44, 58, 67 and 76; a further pair of Mu Ning Ri Xin inscribed jiao vessels were sold at Sotheby's London, 10 June 1986, lot 50, one of which was sold later at Christie's New York, 17 March 2017, lot 1011; another pair of jiao vessels, also from the Mengdiexuan Collection, were sold at Christie's New York, 22-23 March 2018, lot 908; see also three bronze vessels from the Mengdiexuan Collection, including a fangding, a zun, and a gui, which were sold at Christie's New York, 22-23 March 2018, lot 909, 910 and 911.
Gu vessels of this elegant form were used as wine containers within a ritual context and date from as early as the Erlitou phase of the Shang dynasty, circa 2000 to 1500 BC. The extant examples dating to this period are generally cast with a single band of decoration and were of stouter form, which becomes more elegant in form and more complex in design further into the dynasty. The introduction of notched flanges to the middle section and foot of the gu seems to occur in the 13th century BC; see a comparable example illustrated by R.W.Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M.Sackler Collections, Washington D.C., 1987, no.31.
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