A very rare inscribed archaic bronze vessel and cover, You


Mid Western Zhou Dynasty Expertly cast of oval section, the slightly compressed pear-shaped body supported on a splayed foot, encircled by a band of pairs of crested birds confronted by taotie masks all on a leiwen ground, the band interrupted on each side by a loop supporting the U-shaped bail handle with bovine-mask terminals cast with further bird motifs and lozenge-shaped bosses, the fitted and domed cover with a matching bird frieze, surmounted by a hollow oval knop, a smooth gray-green patina with malachite encrustation, the interior of the vessel and cover with an inscription reading 'Pi shu xian yi, ji bu yi, wei mu zong yi ze bei, yong qian mu ling'. 25cm (9 2/4in) high. (2).
|The Property of a Gentleman 士紳藏品西周中期 青銅否叔卣「否弔（叔）獻彝，疾不巳（已），爲母宗彝𠟭（則）備，用譴母霝」銘文Provenance: Gisèle Croës Arts D'Extreme Orient, Brussels, 1997Leon Derwa Collection, Belgium, 1998Jean-Yves Ollivier CollectionPublished and Illustrated: G. Croës, From Ancient Kingdoms to Imperial China, International Asian Art Fair, New York, 1998, pp.30-31K.Y.Cheung, 'The Inscriptions of Pi Shu Zun-Shedding New Light on Dispatch Wares of the Western Zhou', Bulletin of Institute of History and Philology, vol.1, Part 3, Taipei, 1999, p.772, fig.2來源：布魯賽爾古董商吉賽爾藝廊，1997年比利時藏家Leon Derwa先生舊藏，1998年歐宗易先生珍藏出版及著錄：吉賽爾著，《From Ancient Kingdoms to Imperial China, International Asian Art Fair（從古代王國到中華帝國，國際亞洲藝術節）》，紐約，1998年，頁30-31張光裕著，「西周遣器新識——否叔尊銘之啟示」，載於《中央研究院歷史語言研究所集刊》，卷1，台北：中央研究院，1999年，頁772，圖2The you, as a type of sacrificial vessel for storing alcohol, appears to have emerged in the late Shang dynasty. Typically cast with a compressed pear-shaped body and overhead handle, the vessel form remained prominent during the early and mid-Western Zhou period.The present lot exhibits decorative features typical of the early Western Zhou period, where cast decoration became less elaborate and simplified in comparison to earlier examples in the late Shang dynasty with complicated taotie masks covering the body of the vessel. The present lot is cast with crested birds flanked by a thin band of intricate archaic scrolls to the waisted neck, whilst the bulbous lower body is left plain. These features together form a balanced effect which gained popularity in the mid Western Zhou period.The significance of this you lies first with the inscription seen on the bottom of the interior and underneath the cover. The inscription consists of seventeen characters reading:否弔（叔）獻彝，疾不巳（已），爲母宗彝𠟭（則）備，用遣母霝This may be translated as:'Hereby Pi Shu offers this sacrificial vessel. When mother was gravely ill, a series of sacrificial vessels have been prepared for her funeral.'Although the identity of Pi Shu remains unknown, another unusual aspect of this inscription is the use of the character qian (遣) on bronze specifically, to refer to a burial object. The character qian, originally means 'to send' or 'to dispatch'. Cheung Kwong Yue, however, indicated that bronzes cast with inscriptions including the character qian should be called qian qi (遣器; 'burial object') instead of mingqi (明器) which was a common term in ancient China for wares buried with the deceased. Furthermore, inscriptions which include the character qian may have the function of inventorying. This suggests that a number of objects were buried. Qian ce (遣册), inventories written on bamboo or wooden slips have been widely found in tombs dated to the Eastern Zhou dynasty and Warring States period in the former areas of the Kingdom of Chu. The inscription on this lot, 'wei mu zong yi ze bei', translates as 'a series of sacrificial bronzes have been prepared'. This suggests that more than one piece was made for Pi Shu's mother. Cheung noted six additional bronze vessels, all of which had the inscription including the character 'qian', thus it can be argued that this lot belonged to this group, forming a complete set of sacrificial bronzes. For a discussion on this group of bronzes, see K.Y.Cheung, 'The Inscriptions of Pi Shu Zun-Shedding New Light on Dispatch Wares of the Western Zhou', Bulletin of Institute of History and Philology, vol.1, Part 3, Taipei, 1999, pp.761-778.Compare with a similar archaic bronze vessel and cover, you, early Zhou dynasty, illustrated by J.Pope in The Freer Chinese Bronzes, vol.I: Catalogue, Washington, 1967, pp.305, pl.54. Another related bronze vessel and cover, you, Early Western Zhou dynasty, is illustrated by J.Rawson in Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections: vol.IIB, Washington D.C, 1995, p.494, pl.68. A related archaic bronze you, early Western Zhou dynasty, was sold at Sotheby's New York, 21 March 2018, lot 584; see also a mid Western Zhou bronze you of similar shape but with different motif, which was sold at Christie's New York, 23 March 2012, lot 1524.卣蓋穹頂，上鑄圓形捉手，蓋頂飾弦紋三匝，上下欄間飾回首夔龍紋三組，以蓋正中出短棱對稱分佈，雷紋填地，前後皆然。蓋緣略微內收。卣身頸部亦飾蓋身同樣的夔龍紋帶飾，惟以浮雕大耳獸首作中軸。頸兩側鑄環，套以大耳獸首提樑，樑身飾淺浮雕簡化蟬紋，且以雷紋填地。卣腹稍扁，略下垂而整體呈梨形。高圈足，略微外撇，正中出短棱，雷紋作地，兩側伴以長身鳳鳥紋。器被橄欖綠皮殼。卣為酒器，最遲出現於商代晚期。身呈梨形、頸帶提梁的樣式流行於西周早期至中期，此件拍品呈現的便是這一樣式。商代青銅卣全身常飾以繁複的饕餮紋，至西周中期則化繁為簡，常以雷紋作地、鳳鳥紋或夔紋作主體的帶飾環繞蓋、頸、足各一周，器身餘無他飾。此件拍品特別之處在於器蓋及器身內底各鑄有相同的十七字銘文：「否弔（叔）獻彝，疾不巳（已），爲母宗彝𠟭（則）備，用遣母霝」大意為否叔的母親病重，沒有好轉的跡象，於是否叔備下這套禮器，奉獻給母親，作為遣送（陪葬）之器。否叔的身份所知闕如，然而這篇銘文所載之「遣」字卻非比尋常。「遣」字本意為遣送，張光裕教授主張此件拍品則可稱為「遣器」，以替代漢代以來所謂的「明器」的稱呼。戰國楚墓常出土一類竹簡，內文自稱為「遣冊」，乃一種記載隨葬器物的清單，在下葬之前，由專人誦讀，向死者報告以慰藉亡魂，也就是「用遣母霝」之意。先秦文獻並無「遣冊」一詞，金文中出現的「遣」字也常意為遣送或派遣，如果此件拍品的「遣」字意同「遣冊」，那麼「宗彝𠟭（則）備」則可解讀為否叔鑄造了一套多件的禮器，此卣便是其中之一。張光裕曾寫專文考證這套銅器之銘文，見「西周遣器新識—否叔尊銘之啟示」，載於《中央研究院歷史語言研究所集刊》，台北，1999年，頁769-778。形制、裝飾類似的他例可參考佛利爾美術館所藏一件西周早期提樑卣，見John A. Pope等，《The Freer Chinese Bronzes（弗利爾中國青銅器）》，卷一：圖錄，華盛頓，1967年，頁305，圖版54；另有一件相關提樑卣亦可參考之，見Jessica Rawso著，《Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections（賽克勒收藏西周青銅禮器）》，卷二B，麻省劍橋，1995年，頁494，圖版68。紐約蘇富比曾售出一件西周早期提樑卣，可資參考，2018年3月2日，拍品編號584；另可比較佳士得紐約售出一件相似器型的提樑卣，2012年3月23日，拍品編號1524。